


Wǣrloga

by andthatisterrible



Series: Gods and Monsters [1]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Demons, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Modern Setting, Urban Fantasy, but has urban fantasy world building, cool magic artifacts, creepy small town sleepy hollow vibes, except it takes place in a rural area, mysterious shit going on all over, other various creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:34:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 75,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23801644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthatisterrible/pseuds/andthatisterrible
Summary: Reese and Shaw are former members of a government agency that handles relations with Unnaturals, magical creatures and beings primarily from other worlds. Now working as independent contractors, they get hired to investigate some strange events in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. What they think is going to be a boring trip and easy money quickly turns into a much more complicated and dangerous mystery filled with monsters and a familiar face from the past.
Relationships: Root/Sameen Shaw, Root/Sameen Shaw/The Machine, Root/The Machine
Series: Gods and Monsters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766113
Comments: 255
Kudos: 256





	1. The Town in the Middle of Nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all. This is a fully written 74k+ fic that I will be posting on a regular schedule (probably twice a week). It's very definitely E-rated, but other than the smut it'd probably earn an M rating for violence and a couple slightly-graphic descriptions. 
> 
> Like with all my longer E-rated stuff, I'll mark off where the sexy stuff is for anyone who's just here for the story and not interested in the banging. Also on a related topic, please note the relationship tags. 👀
> 
> I had so much fun writing this, partly because I did a ton of worldbuilding for it and got really invested as I figured out how all of it fit together. When I got near the end, I realized I'd basically written the first book in a series and that there were all these plot threads that were set up to be explored later on (though this story absolutely has a satisfying conclusion in itself). So basically if people like this one and I'm feeling motivated, I might write a sequel in the same world.
> 
> Enjoy!

There was a field right outside of the town, empty and overgrown with tall grass, with a single, rusted mailbox at the edge of it up near the dirt road. For as long as anyone could remember, the flag on the mailbox had been down, probably rusted in place.

One day in late September of a particularly grey and gloomy year, something unusual caught the eye of the local delivery man causing him to draw his cart to a halt by the mailbox. Somehow, against all logic, the little red flag was up. He hesitated and then hopped down off the driver's seat of the mail cart and cautiously approached the mailbox. The door, which he was quite positive was rusted shut, opened easily at his touch and revealed a single letter, propped up against the side.

The delivery man took the letter out cautiously and turned it over to look at the address on the front. Everything appeared to be in order; even the correct amount of postage was attached. He carefully shut the door again, grimacing at the screech of the hinges, and pushed the little flag back down.

He climbed back up into the driver's seat and tucked the letter away with the other outgoing mail. He could drop it off at the main post office when he got to the nearby town that had a larger postal service, and then after that it would hopefully be out of his hands for good.

He rode away, leaving the mailbox alone in front of the empty field where the grass sat deathly still in the gusty morning breeze.

* * *

Shaw slouched down in her seat and tried to brace herself with her feet on the other side of the carriage. The road they were riding over felt like it was one giant pothole and she was being jounced painfully every inch of the way. On the seat catty-corner to her, Reese had folded himself up as best he could, his legs too long to comfortably fit.

"What sort of place doesn't allow cars?" Shaw asked again. It was mostly rhetorical griping at this point but Reese answered anyway.

"A place with no gas stations or paved roads. I hear the electricity is pretty unreliable, too. We should count ourselves lucky that the plumbing works."

Shaw kicked at the seat across from her in irritation. "We can't have needed the money _that_ badly." Her cellphone didn't even get a signal out here.

"You're the one who said we did."

"I know, but…." She peered out the window of the carriage at the forest. White birch trees grew on either side of the road, like bones stretching up to the grey sky. "Hopefully it's a fast job."

"It's an investigation into 'strange circumstances'. You know that jobs like that almost always turn out to be raccoons or something."

"Yeah, I know." Shaw had seen more raccoons than she cared to comment on in the last year. "That cop who contacted us didn't seem the sort to worry over some vermin, though."

The white birch trees outside gave way to thick, dark tree trunks, their jagged branches bare of leaves. Autumn had ended and everything was dead or dying as winter swept in. The first snows could be here as soon as next week and Shaw wanted to be out of the area long before that happened.

"She didn't give us much to go on either," Reese said. "Usually when there's a rogue fuser running around things have a tendency to explode or melt. Or both."

"Worst that happens is they're being paranoid and we get paid a little less but get to leave sooner. Or maybe that's the best option actually." They hadn't arrived yet, but she already felt a growing dislike of the town.

A loud beeping from the bag on the seat next to her startled both of them. She fished around in the bag and pulled out a small box that looked like a geiger counter with a row of lights on it.

"Guess I forgot to switch it off. Well, there's something here alright. This thing is going nuts." She peered out the window, but there was only an open field on one side of the road and more trees on the other. "Better not be the fae. I really hate those guys."

"They hate you, too."

"Assholes." Her one, accidental trip to faerie, the dimensional plane where the fae lived, had escalated quickly and ended with her getting permanently banished. She had it on good authority that this was quite an accomplishment, but the only thing that was important to her was that she never had to go back.

She might ditch the job and leave if that was actually what this was. Fae bullshit always ended up all _political_ and weird. Technically she and Reese weren't even authorized to speak to the fae, but what the government didn't know wouldn't hurt anyone.

The energy detector calmed down after a few more minutes and Shaw made a mental note to come back to this area if this whole thing turned out to be about more than raccoons. Something or someone could be hiding out here.

Fenced-in pastures started to show up, full of more sheep than Shaw had ever seen in one place.

"Didn't you grow up on a farm?" she asked as she looked out over the fields of white fleece.

"Yeah, why?"

"If we have to deal with any farm animals on this trip then they're your problem."

The town happened suddenly, the view going from open pastures to a cluster of small houses, all stone or brick. Most had actual shingled roofs, but some appeared to have thatch much to Shaw's disbelief. Had they accidentally ridden through a portal to the past?

The town looked just as gloomy as the woods had though there were a fair number of people out and about. A few peered curiously at the carriage as it rolled past, but most ignored it and went about...whatever it was quaint townsfolk did all day. Shaw half-expected to see an olde-timey blacksmith here and…nevermind, that was definitely a blacksmith they'd just passed.

"We'd better really need this money," Reese said from the other side of the carriage.

"I dunno, maybe we'll find something to do here," Shaw said a little absently. The blacksmith thing was ridiculous, but also intriguing. She only understood the rough guidelines of how it worked but it involved getting metal red hot and whaling on it with a giant hammer and steam and smoke and grease and all of that sounded _fun_. Maybe something to do while Reese tried to herd raccoons into a cat carrier.

Their carriage finally came to a halt near the center of town. Shaw almost fell over after she stood up, her legs all wobbly from the rough ride. She staggered down the little steps out of the carriage and into the muddy street (had no one here heard of pavement?).

"You must be Sameen Shaw."

Shaw straightened up to find a woman in a dark blue coat standing a few feet away. The coat fell almost to the woman's knees and was belted at the waist. The row of brass buttons up the center gave away who she was more than anything else. Shaw knew a cop when she saw one, no matter how out of date their uniform was.

"You Chief Carter?"

"That's me." Carter looked past her. "And this must be John Reese?"

Reese gave a noncommittal grunt and continued to lurk behind Shaw. The coin flip in the carriage on the way here had determined it was Reese's turn to pretend to have people skills, but he seemed to have conveniently forgotten that.

Carter eyed them skeptically and then shrugged. "I'll have someone take your suitcases ahead to the inn, but for right now you two had better come with me."

Carter turned and headed away, as if she was sure they'd fall into step behind her. Shaw didn't budge at first, wondering what Carter would do if they just stood here, but Reese brushed past her, following Carter like a lost puppy. Shaw rolled her eyes and hurried to catch up with them.

"Where are we headed?" asked Reese who'd finally decided to talk.

"There's been another incident. It's...different, but I think it's related." Carter's posture was a bit too stiff, like she was uncomfortable with all this.

"What kind of incidents have you been having?" Shaw asked. "Your description on the request was pretty vague."

"I'd like to see what you two think of this one before I fill in any details. I'd rather not introduce any bias into your first opinion."

Shaw exchanged a look with Reese. Bias. Right. Guess that was nicer than her just outright saying she didn't trust them yet.

The long, open building that Carter led them to had a certain odor to it which Shaw figured out the source of as soon as they entered through the big open doorway at the end. Stalls lined both sides of the building, most of which were occupied by a variety of shaggy horses that eyed them with suspicion.

Since there were no cars here, the horses, like the ones that had pulled their carriage, must have been the main method of transportation. Shaw glared at one of them and it laid its ears back and showed her a mouth full of huge yellow teeth. Hopefully she wouldn't have to ride anywhere.

Carter led them to the big stall at the end and motioned for them to go in. There were a few other people wearing uniforms like hers standing about looking uncomfortable. A younger-looking officer was busy throwing up on a bale of hay nearby. That didn't bode well.

Once inside the stall, it took Shaw a few seconds for her brain to put together exactly what she was seeing. She exchanged a glance with Reese.

"Well?" Carter asked from behind them.

"This guy is really fucking dead," Shaw said. There were pieces littered all over, a severed arm in the water trough, and bits of gore dripping from the ceiling. She was fairly sure there was only one body here, but it was hard to be positive with all the blood.

"For the amount I'm paying you two, you'd better have a lot more than that."

"Good thing that part is my specialty," Shaw said as she gingerly took a step towards the largest intact piece of the corpse. She rummaged in the small bag she'd brought with her. "I investigate...let's call them crime scenes where the perp is suspected to be an unnatural or a fuser."

"And then what?" Carter asked as she watched Shaw fiddling with the energy detector.

"And then we both kick the shit out of whatever caused this." That was the fun part.

"Any idea what that might be?"

Shaw looked over the gory remains. "You'd be amazed how many unnaturals enjoy a good dismemberment. Weres, demons, some of the fae, several types of spirits, elementals if they're in a bad mood though that usually leaves more traces than this."

She hunkered down next to the largest intact part of the corpse and twisted one of the dials on the energy detector.

"So you're pretty sure it's an unnatural then?" Carter pressed.

"There are fusers that could do this, too," Reese said. "Can't rule anything out."

"Reese, check this out."

Shaw heard Reese step up next to her and she pointed at the remains of the shoulder on the torso in front of her.

"Looks like the arm was popped right out at the joint," Shaw said. "Whatever it was, it was definitely strong as hell." Which narrowed it down almost none.

"The detector is only flashing clear though." She handed it over to Reese. "Energy readings out the roof, but no known type."

"Maybe it really _is_ raccoons," Reese said just quietly enough that Carter couldn't hear. "Evil raccoons."

Shaw rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but feel uneasy. No known type made it a lot more likely to be a fuser, which was odd since infused artifacts didn't usually grant their users the ability to rip people's arms off. But then no one knew the full range of their capabilities, so it was still possible. Either that or their perpetrator was something no one had discovered yet.

"This looks a lot like a demon attack to me," Shaw said, "Body was mutilated and ripped apart, but not eaten and no organs were taken. Brute force attack with no intention other than killing. Classic traits of a demon attack, but there's no trace of a demon." She stood up. "I don't like this."

Shaw looked back at where Carter was leaning against the stall door, watching them intently. "What were the other incidents that happened before?"

Carter looked back and forth between them, judging. Finally she shrugged. "When you're done here, I'll show you."

Shaw got a couple photos of the scene and made a few more quick passes over the area to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Reese wandered outside while she finished up and came back looking grim. He shook his head slightly at her questioning look. No tracks or signs outside that could be useful.

"Can we see the other stuff now?" he asked Carter.

She took them not to a crime scene, but to the police station in town. It was a large stone building with dingy windows and only one computer. A few other police officers watched them curiously as Carter led them to her office in the back.

"Here." She handed over a small pile of photographs.

Shaw examined the first one. It didn't look like much at first glance, only some scuffed up lines in the dirt, but after a second or two the pattern of the lines snapped into place in her mind and she could see the full shape.

"That's a ritual circle," she said and handed the photo over to Reese. "Too messed up to tell much about it, but the basic structure is pretty recognizable. Looks like a demonic sigil."

"That's what we thought, too," Carter agreed, "but no one wanted to cause a panic based on some lines in the dirt. Most people figured it was some kids messing around." Her tone suggested that she had not been one of those people and that she didn't hold any of them in high regard. "Then a few weeks later…."

She motioned at the photos in Shaw's hand and Shaw shuffled ahead through them until she saw a different scene. It was a sheep, or what was left of one anyway. It had been ripped apart in much the same way the human corpse they'd just examined had.

"Farmers thought it was a bear," Carter said. "Must have been a hell of a bear."

"There are no claw or bite marks," Shaw said, passing a photo to Reese. "Just like your dead guy in the stable, this thing was ripped apart."

The rest of the photos showed some more scuffed dirt which wasn't as clearly a ritual circle as the first, and another dismembered animal, this time a cow.

"I'm guessing someone summoned something. A demon maybe?" Carter guessed.

"Or someone wanted you to think they'd summoned one. If it'd been a demon, the detector would have picked up on it," Reese said as he handed the photos back. He kept one of them. "Is it okay if I hold onto this one? I want to check it against some images from other ritual circles."

"Does that mean you can't deal with whatever this is tonight?" Carter asked. There was a note of resignation in her voice, like she'd expected that.

"Hunting unknown unnaturals in the dark is a bad idea," Shaw said. "Good way to end up dead. Is there any more you can tell us about the dead dude?"

"Local farmer. I'm not going to say it's impossible he was involved, but it seems unlikely. Very average fellow, not the brightest bulb in the box. He's had minor disputes with other people over the years, but no more or less than anyone else and none worth murdering over."

"Smarter than a sheep or a cow, though," Reese said thoughtfully.

"Excuse me?"

"Whatever or whoever is doing this is still testing out their powers, ramping up to bigger and more clever prey." Reese turned to look at Shaw. "We should do a sweep of the area surrounding the town tomorrow."

Shaw nodded. "Doubt we'll find whatever it is, but we might find more clues." She looked back at Carter. "You said something about an inn we could stay at?"

Carter still seemed a little stiff on the walk to the inn. "So...you two are fusers yourselves, right?"

Shaw exchanged a look with Reese. "Yeah, we're licensed though and all our artifacts are registered." Some of them were anyway.

"Do you have any of those original artifacts I've heard about?"

"Only infused ones," Reese corrected. "Original artifacts are illegal to possess."

The infused artifacts that had given their users the title of fusers were all very weak derivatives of the mysterious original artifacts. Every time an original popped up, the government whisked it away to a secure vault. Well, almost every time. The illegal infused artifact business was booming and that meant there were originals out there still being used to make them

"We've never had even an infused one here before," Carter said. "No need in a place like this."

"I can see that," Reese said.

"I'd imagine you two have seen some, though. I hear you used to work for the bureau."

"Where'd you hear that?" Shaw asked cautiously. The fact they'd both worked for the Unnatural Affairs and Relations Bureau wasn't something they spread around. Technically the ISA, the black ops group within the bureau that they'd been part of, didn't officially exist. Questions about what they'd done there could get awkward. Also there was the fact that a lot of folks hiring freelance fusers to deal with their artifact or unnatural related problems wouldn't have been keen to hire former government agents.

"Oh, I asked around before I hired you. Cops talk, you know."

It wasn't much of an answer, but Shaw sensed it was the best they were going to get.

The inn was a large two-story wooden building that made Shaw wonder if she'd stepped into one of those movies with the dumb dwarves in it, though there was a distinct lack of jovial innkeepers pouring ale. In fact, the large common room was almost completely empty and Reese had to ring the bell at the bar before anyone showed up to take them to their rooms.

"Everyone's gone home early today," the innkeeper, a large woman named Doris, said. "They don't want to get killed by whatever got poor Herman."

"Is there any speculation on who might have killed him?" Reese asked, with a smile that Shaw guessed he intended to seem friendly but missed the mark a bit.

"They're saying it was a werewolf, but it must have been a bear, right? Maybe it has rabies. What else could it have been? We don't get things like that around here. This is a quiet town with good folk."

That didn't quite match up with what Carter had told them, but Shaw decided not to press the issue.

The rooms were small, but surprisingly cozy and extremely clean. They did nothing to dispel Shaw's notion that she had accidentally ended up in the past, but the beds were soft and there was hot water in the bathrooms. Reese's room was across the hall from hers and, from the looks of things, they were the only two guests. Shaw left her bags in her room and then joined Reese in his room to go over what they'd learned.

Which wasn't much.

"I still think it's gotta be a demon," Shaw said as she studied the ritual circle photo again. "Maybe the damn detector is busted."

"Could still be a fuser, and of course there's one other possibility." Reese passed over the heavy book he'd been reading, opened to one page.

Shaw looked at it and grimaced. "Let's hope it's not that."

"It's unlikely." Reese took the book back. "We should rule out everything else first. I bet we find something out in the woods tomorrow, even if it's not connected, but maybe whatever it is will know what our murderer is."

"Guess we should get a good night's sleep then." Shaw got up but paused by the door. "Can I borrow that book?"

"A little light reading before bed?" Reese handed over the thick leather-bound volume again.

"Something like that."

Shaw waited until she was settled in bed for the night before cracking the book open to the same place Reese had been reading. She reread the entry on the page:

_wǣrloga - traitor, oath-breaker, liar. A title used for a human who makes a pact with an unearthly force and sells their soul for great power. They are not to be trusted as their loyalty lies entirely with their patron and not with humankind._

There'd only been one warlock they'd run into, and as far as Shaw knew, that had been the only one for years. The government tended to frown on warlocks and anyone suspected of trying to become one usually ended up dead, no questions asked. Shaw couldn't blame them too much since the one warlock she'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with had destroyed most of a town before it'd been put down.

Shaw closed the book and put it on the nightstand. There were no lights in the inn, and no real signs of electricity at all. There wasn't even an outlet to plug her phone into. She blew out the candle and lay back in the darkness, trying not to think about walking through the burning remains of that town last year.

Eventually she slept.

* * *

It had rained overnight and the dirt roads had turned to deep mud puddles. Fortunately, Shaw had brought along a pair of hiking boots, but she was going to have a hell of a time cleaning them off later. It was still drizzling on and off and both her and Reese were wearing baggy camo ponchos (that looked very out of place in the town) to keep the rain off as they tramped out into the fields around the town.

"Too bad it didn't attack anyone else last night," Shaw said, tugging on the brim of the floppy hat that matched her poncho. "With all the mud we would have gotten a nice bunch of footprints to work with."

"You probably shouldn't say that in front of the chief," Reese said. "She might not like the idea of more people dying just to provide clues."

"Might save more lives in the long run."

"It might, but still."

Shaw looked at the cows in the pasture they were passing. They looked a lot larger up close like this, large enough that it made it even harder to imagine what could have torn one to pieces.

"Do you remember Fairfield?" she asked as she watched a cow stomping through the muck, leaving muddy hoofprints behind.

"Hard to forget something like that."

"A warlock could go right through this town, you know. Wouldn't even have to make an effort. Whole place just blasted off the face of the earth." She tried not to think about Fairfield too much, but it was etched into her memory. And there were still some loose ends from the whole incident, one of which she thought about far too often.

"The chances that it's a warlock are really low, Shaw."

"I hope you're right."

They crossed the open fields beyond the pastures and came to the edge of the woods. The trees here were like the ones they'd driven past yesterday, dark and bare. The ground was covered with the rotting remains of leaves, sunk into the mud.

Shaw pulled the detector from her pocket and twisted a dial on it to set the range of distance it was scanning as wide as possible. They'd check for active energy first, and then after for residual energy--older, more dormant traces. There were almost always some sort of residual traces everywhere in the world, but it was still worth a shot.

The needle on the counter barely moved at all, but vibrated very near the lowest reading. A light above it turned a pale turquoise. Shaw made a face.

"Fucking fae. It's super faint, but I bet they have a circle somewhere in the woods." She twisted another dial and the light went off and the needle fell still. "Doesn't look like there's anything else out there now."

"What about residuals?" Reese asked. "There's something creepy about the woods here."

"Too spooky for you, tough guy?"

"Just check."

"I was going to anyway."

She clicked a button on the bottom and twisted a dial. This time the needle jumped all the way to the top of the counter and stayed there. A blue light flashed on and off.

"Oh yeah, got a fuck ton of old energy here. Some type of elemental it looks like."

"Probably really old, though. There's not many of them around anymore. No way to know if it's relevant."

"Let's hope it isn't." Shaw turned the detector off and jammed it back in her pocket. "I guess we have to find the stupid fae now." She was not looking forward to that at all.

"Maybe let me do the talking."

Finding a faerie circle was nearly impossible for the average human, but both of them had been in the business long enough that it only took them an hour to track it down. It was mostly Reese's doing; Shaw sometimes wondered if he had some fae blood in his ancestry based on his knack for finding them. This one was a bunch of moss-covered tree stumps in a rough circle. The ground between them was clear of the dying leaves and mud and covered in thick grass and mossy stones instead. Even so, it wasn't easy to spot and Shaw could imagine some person not watching their step and walking right in. Nine times out of ten they'd walk across it and never know, but the tenth time….

"Knock, knock, assholes," Shaw said under her breath as she stopped just outside the ring of tree stumps.

Reese fished around in his pocket and pulled out a small blue marble that looked like it was made out of luminescent glass. He carefully tossed it between the stumps and then stepped back.

"Some people get magic rocks to let them call on the fae and some people get a life long ban from faerie," Shaw muttered under her breath. "What's so great about you, anyway?"

Reese looked amused. "I'm just a really nice guy."

"Bullshit."

Shaw fished around in her pack and pulled out what looked like a fingerless glove. The underside of it was black cloth and leather and the top part was metal, like armor stretching over her wrist and covering the back of her hand. A large chunk of something that looked like amber was set into the back of it. She slipped it onto her right hand and curled her fingers a few times to get comfortable.

"We're not here for a fight," Reese pointed out.

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared. I'll keep it out of sight." She wound her hand into her poncho. Infused artifacts weren't nearly as powerful as original artifacts, but the fae would probably be able to tell they had some. They shouldn't be able to tell if they were armed though.

It started raining again as they waited and Shaw tugged her hat down lower over her face. The inn had bathtubs and hopefully there was enough hot water to fill one so she could get the chill out of her bones later. It was another fifteen cold, soggy minutes before they finally got a response.

There was no puff of smoke or flash of light to announce their arrival--they were just suddenly _there_ , between the stumps, like they'd always been there. And maybe they had.

There were two of them inside the circle, both notably shorter than Shaw, with skin that looked like bark if she glanced at it but blurred and changed when she stared. One of them had eyes like a snake and the other had huge, yellow, saucer-like eyes with horizontal pupils. There were thousands of types of fae and all of them looked different, but when they showed up to the human world on business they usually took on forms that were at least vaguely human like these were. Human and yet unnerving. Shaw wondered what they really looked like, but questions like that were apparently rude.

"You." The taller of the two fixed their snake eyes on her.

"Have we met?" Shaw asked, ignoring the warning look Reese shot her.

"We know who you are. You are not welcome in our realm."

"Yeah, well your realm is shit."

Reese cleared his throat loudly and moved partially in front of Shaw. "Our apologies for disturbing you, but we were hoping you might have knowledge of some of the unnaturals in these parts."

"What sort of knowledge?" the shorter fae asked. Next to them the snake-eyed fae continued to stare at Shaw. She narrowly resisted the urge to flip them off.

"Yesterday, a man was killed quite violently in the town nearby."

"And you think we might have been involved?" asked the taller fae who Shaw had nicknamed Grumpy in her head.

"No, we just thought you might know what did," Reese clarified. "Whatever it was ripped a man apart without leaving any trace."

There were plenty of fae that could do that, but they were low on Shaw's list of suspects. Fae were usually purposeful about the humans they killed, and she didn't think Herman the farmer was on their radar.

Neither of the fae responded right away, which, based on her previous experiences with them, Shaw would bet meant they were communicating with each other silently. She watched their faces closely, but there was no easy way to read their expressions.

"Whether or not to remove this circle has been a matter of debate for many years," the shorter fae (who Shaw had decided to call Sneezy for no reason other than pure spite) said finally. "The question was a lesser matter for a long time, but recently it has been a source of much discussion."

"There's something here you lot are scared of," Shaw guessed.

Sneezy turned their unnerving eyes to regard her. "We have no wish to fight battles that aren't of our own making, human."

Reese spoke up again. "If there is any information you're willing to give freely…"

"There is something very old in this place," Sneezy said. "Not as old as us, but not to be trifled with either. And old things, powerful things, draw trouble to them."

Shaw was starting to get a picture of what they were implying. "You were keeping an eye on something here, but now a bigger, badder thing showed up in town and you're turning tail and running."

Grumpy took half a step forward, hand rising, but Sneezy laid a hand on their arm.

"We do not run, but we do not fight your battles for you, either."

"If whatever this new thing is gets its...hands on whatever the thing is you've been watching, wouldn't that be dangerous for you as well?" Reese asked.

"Perhaps. That is why this circle remains for now. But you cannot count on us for aid. Faerie will not stand with you on this, John Reese."

Shaw thought Sneezy almost sounded regretful, though she knew she was likely projecting that since their voice did not follow human tone in any way.

"Is there any other information you're willing to share freely?"

There was another moment of silence and then Sneezy said, "There is not. If that should change, you will be contacted."

Reese nodded gravely. "Thank you for your time."

Sneezy returned his nod, but Grumpy stared at Shaw instead. "Next time don't bring that one with you."

Shaw smirked at them, but bit back her retort.

"Until next time," Sneezy said as if they were unaware of the conflict. They picked up Reese's blue marble and rolled it back over the boundary of stumps.

The two fae started to fade. They didn't vanish exactly, more like they blended back in and became impossible to tell apart from the forest. Shaw flipped off Grumpy before she lost sight of them.

"They know exactly what it is," she said once they were alone. "They just don't want to tell us what they're afraid of." She pulled her glove back off and stuffed it into her pack.

"That's one possible reason," Reese agreed. "It could also be that the fae as a whole are not sharing information on this at all. I think those two might not have had permission to tell us."

"Or they're going to wait until we're in a bad situation and use it to make us strike a bargain with them."

"That, too." Reese picked up the marble from the ground and tucked it into his pocket. "Let's do a full circle around the town with the detector. Maybe we'll find something."

They started off through the muddy woods.

"The thing they were keeping an eye on," Shaw said, "sounded like an original artifact to me."

"That's what I was thinking, too. It'd have to be a pretty powerful one to merit them keeping an eye on."

"If anyone even suspects that, this whole place will be swarming with bureau agents within the hour." Shaw wasn't sure that would be bad necessarily--original artifacts were dangerous and powerful after all--but she wasn't crazy about the idea either. Mostly she was curious now, and she wanted answers, not to be shut out of the situation by their former employers.

Their sweep of the woods ended with no more clues and they trudged back to town through the mud.

* * *

"You should head back to the inn and take a shower," Reese said as they squelched back into town. "I'll go update Chief Carter."

"You're just as covered in mud as I am. Unless…" Shaw grinned. "You looking for an excuse to spend some time with Carter? Not that I can blame you, I mean."

Reese tried to glower and failed miserably. "Someone has to tell her we didn't find anything, and you're still riled up over the fae."

"I don't get riled up." Though thinking about it, she was in the mood for a good fight now, but not the boring kind of bureaucratic fight this could be. She wanted to shoot something.

"Well, if you really want to tag along..."

"Changed my mind. Maybe I will have that shower." There was something she wanted to check in that book. "But, uh, maybe don't bring up the whole warlock thing, yeah? Don't want to cause a panic."

"Definitely not going to mention that unless it becomes a real possibility," Reese agreed. "And I'm not going to mention the possible artifact either."

"What _will_ you say then?"

"I'll think of something."

A thought occurred to Shaw. "Ask her if she knows anything about that creepy clearing we passed on the way into town, the one that made the detector go crazy." She'd forgotten about it until now, but it was a potential thing to follow up on tomorrow.

"Will do."

They parted ways and Shaw walked back to the inn alone. It was almost evening and there was hardly anyone out on the dirt roads and the few people who were out avoided her. Fine by her. If someone needed to go chat up the locals then it could be Reese.

"Can I get some food brought up to my room?" Shaw asked Doris the innkeeper. "Think I'm going to turn in early."

Doris agreed to bring some up despite the distasteful look she had for the muddy footprints Shaw was leaving across the floor.

The water in the shower smelled a little funky, but it was hot and Shaw sighed in relief as she washed the forest off of herself. It hadn't been a wasted day, exactly, but it hadn't been that useful either. They'd learned there was potentially a powerful artifact here, and something scary enough that the fae were nervous, but nothing that would give them a clear next step. There was no good way to search for artifacts, so they were probably going to have to discreetly ask around about any likely places something might have been buried or locked away.

They hadn't, however, learned anything that cleared up the identity of what was making the attacks, other than to establish it definitely wasn't local wildlife and not a common unnatural. The possibility of it being a warlock hovered in the back of her mind like a constant headache. The problem with warlocks--well, one of the many problems--was that their powers varied based on what type of entity they'd made a pact with. It made it much harder to establish a criteria for what their handiwork looked like as it often mimicked aspects of unnaturals, which, Shaw had to admit, fit this case rather well.

Jumping to conclusions was dangerous though, and settling on one answer before having all the facts would make it easier to miss important clues.

Shaw didn't bother to get dressed in more than boy shorts and a tank top since she wasn't planning on going out again that night. There was a lot more than just warlocks in the big tome she'd borrowed from Reese and she planned to refresh her memory on some of the less common unnaturals. She was still toweling her hair dry as she left the bathroom, but she dropped the towel the second she entered her bedroom and saw she wasn't alone. Her gun was out and pointed before the towel hit the floor.

"You shower with your gun, Shaw?" her unexpected visitor asked.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Shaw asked. She lowered her gun slightly but kept her eyes fixed on the woman sitting cross-legged on the foot of her bed, Reese's book open in her lap.

"Through the window, obviously." The woman looked back down at the book, ignoring Shaw and her gun. "Reading up on lesser known unnaturals, I see. Trying to find out what killed that poor, poor farmer?"

"Don't suppose you know anything about that, Root?" Shaw tucked her gun in the back of her shorts and retrieved her towel from the floor. "What are you even doing here?"

"I was just passing through and saw you and the big lug were in town and wanted to say hi." Root grinned at her. "Did you miss me?"

It had been a year since Shaw had last seen her, and that hadn't been under the best of circumstances. She hadn't even been sure Root was still alive.

"Thanks for coming to look for me after everything that happened," Root said as if she could hear her thoughts. "That was very thoughtful of you."

Shaw wanted to lie and say she hadn't, but she didn't think there was any chance Root would believe her. And she really wanted to ask Root where the hell she'd been the last year since the whole disaster in Fairfield. A heads up that she'd survived would have been nice and one less loose end to irritate Shaw.

She draped her towel over her shoulders and went to grab her pack off the floor from near the door. She pulled the detector out of it and tossed it on the bed next to Root.

"Can you tell me if your little toy is still working correctly?" If Root was going to bust into her room then she could make herself useful.

Root picked up the detector and turned it over. "What makes you think it isn't?"

"The attacks here look like a demon was involved, but the detector doesn't pick up traces of anything. I thought maybe it was broken."

"It's not." Root pried the back cover off and examined the wiring within. "It's in perfect working condition. Whatever you're looking for doesn't have an energy type that it can trace, that's all." She shut it again and tossed it back to Shaw. "That explains why you've been digging through musty old books, though."

"Do you know what it is? The thing that's been killing people?"

Root tilted her head to one side. "Maybe. Maybe not. What's in it for me?"

Shaw gave a disgusted sigh. "You're as bad as the fae. What do you want? Money?"

"I have plenty of money."

"Glad one of us does. Sex?" she asked hopefully. That would be a win for both of them. Root was annoying as shit, but she was great in bed.

Root grinned. "Well, I'm not going to say no, but that isn't what I'm after." She closed the book and put it down on the bed next to her. "If you spoke with the fae today then you probably know what I'm after."

"You spying on me?"

"Do I look like I'm covered in mud?"

Root's tight black pants and long-sleeved blue shirt were far too nice for climbing in people's windows, but they were relatively clean, and the black boots she'd politely removed before sitting on Shaw's bed didn't look dirty enough for anything other than walking through town.

"You mentioned the fae and your detector had recently logged their energy signature," Root explained. "They have a circle out in the woods and your discarded clothing looks like you jumped in a pig pen. It wasn't hard to guess."

Well, when she put it like that. "Still drawing a blank on what you want." Though she wasn't really. Root was an unlicensed fuser, and worse than that, a crafter, someone who could make infused artifacts if she had access to an original one. Of course she'd be eager to get her hands on a powerful original artifact.

Root's smile was very fake, like she didn't believe a word of it. "That's too bad. Let me know if you figure it out." She slid off the bed and started pulling her boots back on. "I'll be around for a little while, but don't bother trying to find me. I'll find you when I'm ready."

"Root, if you know something about the attacks…." Shaw wasn't sure where to go from there. It wasn't like she could make Root feel guilty about potentially endangering people by withholding information. Root didn't give a single fuck about a bunch of farmers, or anyone else for that matter.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, sweetie. You're very clever." Root wandered over to the window and pushed it open.

Shaw crossed the room in a single stride, flipped Root around, and pinned her to the wall with an arm barred across her throat. Root's eyes widened in surprise and then darkened into something else.

"Tell me," Shaw ordered.

Root's lips parted in a hungry smile. "Maybe another time."

Shaw pressed a little harder and then abruptly released her. Root half-stumbled forwards a step into Shaw and Shaw steadied her without thinking. There was a long drawn-out moment of the two of them looking at each other from a little too close and then suddenly they were kissing, lips pressing together roughly. Shaw shoved Root back into the wall without interrupting the kiss, and fumbled at the buttons of her shirt. She froze, and then stepped back, her hand on Root's chest holding her back to prevent her from following.

"If you're not going to tell me anything, then get out."

"Are you sure about that?" Root asked a little breathlessly.

"Come back when you have something useful to tell me." Shaw stepped further away, her hands free of Root finally. It was so tempting to keep going, especially when she knew from experience just how good it would be.

Root shrugged and only looked a little disappointed. "I'll see you around then, sweetie." She straightened her shirt out, climbed out the window, and vanished into the night. Shaw shut the window behind her, latched it, and then examined the latch. She was going to have to upgrade it to prevent anything like this from happening again.

She turned back to her room to find that there was a tray of food on a table near the door that she hadn't noticed earlier. She wondered if Root had been here already when Doris had brought it by and what Doris had made of her visitor.

The food was a little cold now, but still good--some type of stew, a hunk of bread, and a mug of beer. It vanished all too quickly and Shaw was thinking about going to ask for seconds when she realized there was something else in her room that didn't belong: a black, leather jacket hung over the back of a chair. Root must have forgotten to take it with her.

Shaw went through the pockets and found a small switchblade knife, an unlabeled bottle of pills, and a pack of tissues. She held the bottle up, but the pills could have been anything and had no markings on them. Maybe there was a pharmacy in town that could identify them, though they'd probably turn out to be just aspirin. Shaw tucked them in her own pack.

She thought about going to find Reese and telling him about her encounter, but she decided that it could wait until morning. Instead, she climbed into bed and opened up the book to start reading. The room still smelled faintly like whatever perfume Root had been wearing and it was highly distracting, but Shaw stubbornly ignored it. She knew Root was alive now so she could stop thinking about her all the time. She began rereading the section on warlocks.

Of all the unnaturals out there, they were the ones she could most easily imagine scaring the fae. It wasn't that a warlock was more powerful than a faerie, in fact the warlocks themselves had no powers and technically weren't even unnaturals. The entity they formed a pact with, though, could have any amount of power. When unnaturals from other planes (like the fae or demons) came through to this world, they couldn't tap into their full powers, but a warlock was a human conduit that could use as much of the power of their patron as they were allowed to by that patron. They were a loophole of sorts, a way for creatures from another plane to utilize their full power on earth without ever having to endanger themselves.

And because of that they were damn near impossible to stop.

Shaw closed the book and put it aside. Once again she lay in bed remembering watching a monster step out from the burning remains of a building while ash and embers rained down around it. She wasn't planning to let that happen again. If Root really knew what was out there, then she'd get it out of her, one way or another.


	2. The Second Murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tentatively planning to post updates Sundays and Wednesdays. Enjoy!

Given the option of riding a horse or being bounced around in a wooden cart, Shaw opted for the cart. Partly because she had no interest in getting on a horse, but also in part because with the cart came police Sergeant Lionel Fusco who Carter had sent to keep an eye on them and who Shaw planned to grill for information.

"The innkeeper was telling us that nothing like this has ever happened before here," she said, bracing herself with one hand on her side of the driver's seat as the cart lurched over a bump. "Must be a boring gig."

"Nothing wrong with things being a little boring," Fusco said. "You know, everyone has the wrong idea about this place. Backwards little town where you can't even get a cell phone signal, right? But it's mostly a self-sufficient place. We don't need anything from anyone here and that's how we like it."

"Yeah, nothing like living in a romanticized version of the glory days of colonial times," Shaw said, sarcasm seeping into her words.

"It's not like that," Fusco argued. "We take care of our own, and we don't cause trouble for anyone else."

There was a lot Shaw could have said about that, but she let it go. "And no one causes you any trouble either?"

"Like I said, it's pretty quiet, though we do have our weird little incidents from time to time, but what small town doesn't?"

"What sorts of incidents?" Reese asked from the back of the cart where he was probably getting an even more uncomfortable ride than Shaw.

"Oh, just your usual unsolved mysteries like the lights flickering, kids running off for a few days and claiming not to remember where they went, people seeing ghosts. We get a lot of heavy fog here this time of year and people are always seeing shapes and monsters in the fog. All stuff that can be explained pretty easily."

Shaw could think of a few things that could cause some of those that probably weren't the easy explanation Fusco had in mind. Kids going missing and coming back with no memories of the time they were gone was classic fae stuff, though usually the kids had aged or were always off after or something. The fae supposedly didn't do that sort of thing anymore after the treaty, but Shaw didn't buy it, and where better for them to keep up their old tricks than a town cut off from the rest of the world.

"Nothing like the murder yesterday though?" Shaw asked.

"No, that was definitely a new one. Most folks here haven't seen a dead body except at funerals. Well, the occasional messy farm equipment accident, but definitely not a murder victim."

"Doris said something about werewolves." Shaw didn't know what she was digging for so she figured she'd keep poking at this from different directions until she hit pay dirt. She highly doubted it was a werewolf. As the only unnatural native to earth, the government kept pretty close tabs on them.

"Doris is a nice lady, but a bit out there, if you know what I mean. There's no werewolves around here."

"There's something around here that tore a man into pieces," Reese pointed out.

"And you guys think it was a werewolf?" Fusco asked, sounding suddenly nervous. He glanced out at the trees on the side of the road as if expecting a vengeful wolf to come leaping out at any moment.

"Doubtful, but it was definitely some kind of unnatural, or maybe a fuser."

"A fuser, like you lot?" Fusco shook his head. "All those artifacts floating around out there is just another reason I'm glad we're as cut off as we are. No one needs that type of power."

Shaw wondered how he'd feel if he knew an original artifact was probably hidden in or near the town somewhere. Sure between herself and Reese they had over a dozen artifacts, but they were all artificially infused artifacts, the type all fusers used, pale shadows of the real ones. Original artifacts were so much more powerful than the weak derivatives people had managed to make from them that they were uniformly illegal to possess. Infused artifacts needed a license to use and carry (she and Reese had licenses for...some of their artifacts anyway), but get caught using an original artifact and you ended up in jail. Or just 'accidentally' dead.

"You're going to be really glad we're fusers if there's a rogue unnatural stalking your town."

Fusco grumbled but didn't contradict her, which actually surprised her. She'd expected him to come back with some dumb line about being able to handle unnaturals just fine with his little gun, but the lack of bravado made her wonder if he'd actually seen one in action.

"Stop up ahead," she said, recognizing the field on the side of the road. She hopped down before the cart had fully stopped, walked to the edge of the road, and pulled the energy detector out of her coat pocket. Just like on the ride in yesterday, it was going crazy. None of the lights were coming on, but the needle was swinging back and forth violently.

"Maybe that thing is just broken," Reese said from over her shoulder.

"No, Root said it was working fine. I think this place is just weird."

"Root? Root's here? She's alive?"

Oh, right, she hadn't told him that yet. Oops. She fiddled with a knob on the detector. "Yeah, she stopped by out of the blue last night. Said a bunch of useless cryptic shit and then left again. You know how she is."

"So she stopped by your room then?"

Shaw stepped back and trod heavily on his toe. "I think she's after that thing the fae mentioned," she said quietly, glancing over to where Fusco was watching them near the parked cart.

"Maybe that's what made the detector go nuts?"

"It can't detect artifacts. Nothing can." Shaw looked up at the field in front of them. It really was completely unremarkable. Waist-high brown grass swayed in the afternoon breeze all the way out to where the tree line started in the far distance. There was nothing else in the field at all--no trees or stumps or boulders that could have marked a location of something. If it weren't for the detector and the ominous atmosphere of the misty woods full of dark trees that seemed even stronger here she wouldn't even have glanced twice at this place.

"What is that thing? Some kind of fancy geiger counter?" Fusco had sidled over next to them with surprising grace and was trying to peer at the detector.

"It's above your pay grade, Lionel," Shaw said, turning so he couldn't see it. "You know anything about this field?"

"It's a field. What's there to know? You city slickers never seen a field before?"

Shaw had a sharp come back all ready, but Reese cut her off. "Maybe it's not something in the field it's reacting to," he suggested. "Let's check around the area."

Shaw ended up exploring the field further as Reese and Fusco headed across the road to look in the woods. There were no paths through the tall grass, so she waded in, wondering if she needed to worry about ticks on top of everything else now. Something caught her eye and she turned to stare in disbelief at a mailbox on a rotting wooden post driven into the ground right next to the road. She could have sworn it hadn't been there a second ago and neither of the other two had given any sign of noticing it.

She picked her way over to it and examined the rusted shut door. No way that thing was opening without getting ripped off. There was still a little red flag on the side, but it was also too rusted to budge. She kicked the post and turned away back to the field.

The ground was still muddy from all the rain the day before, and Shaw's boots left deep footprints as she went. The woods wrapped around the back of the field like an ominous cloak and her eyes kept getting drawn to the shadows within. Only a few steps in and she halted, watching the treeline carefully. If something was hiding out here it was way more likely to be in there, than in this very obviously empty field. No need to go stomping through the mud for nothing.

She made her way back to the road just in time to hear the sound of approaching hoofbeats in the distance. Reese and Fusco both came hurrying out of the woods to join her and watch the rider approach. It was a man Shaw had never seen before, dressed in a police uniform like Fusco's. He pulled his horse up sharply and saluted.

"I've been sent to find you. Chief says you need to come back to town right away. There's been another killing."

"What? Who?" Fusco asked.

"Not sure about that, sir. It...wasn't human."

Shaw felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "What was it then?"

The young officer turned to look at her. "Not rightly sure, ma'am. Never seen anything like it before. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back. Chief wants everyone watching the perimeter of town." He turned his horse and galloped back the way he'd come.

"How fast can your cart go, Lionel?" Reese asked.

"It can do alright, but it's going to be really bumpy."

"Good thing I called shotgun for the return trip," Reese said with a smirk.

Shaw rolled her eyes and mentally prepared herself for the uncomfortable ride back.

"Well, fancy running into you here," a new voice called from behind them. Shaw regretted having wasted her eye roll already and even more so once she turned around.

Root was perched on the back of a tall, black horse and wearing an honest to god cloak around her shoulders with the hood up. She looked like she'd just ridden out of some gothic period piece and Shaw could feel her annoyance levels rising just from seeing her.

"Hey, Lurch," Root called to Reese (who somehow managed to indicate his disapproval without twitching a facial muscle).

"You two know this crazy broad?" Fusco asked. "Just great."

"We've met," Shaw said briefly, carefully avoiding eye contact with Root. "How do you know her?"

"She showed up a few months ago out of nowhere and then vanished again. Since then she drops by every week to buy supplies and creep everyone out."

Root had on that mildly amused and very condescending smile that made Shaw want to throttle her. "Imagine being a big scary police officer and being afraid of one solitary, unarmed woman."

"As fun as all this is, we need to get back to town," Shaw pointed out. "Murder, remember? Yes? Let's go."

"I could give you a ride, Shaw."

Shaw hesitated and hated herself for it. She _really_ wasn't looking forwards to the back of the cart.

"Even with us doubled up, we'll make better time than that thing." Root waved a disdainful hand at the cart. "And it sounded important."

Shaw could feel her resolve crumbling.

"Not a bad idea," Reese said quietly to her. "Root's dangerous and kind of obnoxious, but she has helped us in the past."

"And she just so happens to be here by coincidence right now?" Shaw asked just as quietly.

"Now's your chance to try and get some information out of her."

Shaw gave up. She looked up to meet Root's eyes and saw her smiling smugly like she knew Shaw's decision already. It made Shaw want to punch her or...do something else to her.

"Fine, let's go."

She used the back of the cart to climb up on the horse behind Root, and settled herself uncomfortably. The horse stepped sideways a few paces, getting used to the additional weight and Shaw grabbed Root's waist to keep from falling off.

"You've got to hold on with your thighs, sweetie. Shouldn't be hard...for you."

"I could knock you off this thing and ride back by myself." Root's stupid cloak was made of some very soft, slippery material that was hard to hold on to and Shaw fumbled past it to grab at Root's waist below the cloak.

"I don't think Bacchanalia would like that very much, would you, girl?" Root leaned forward to pat the horse's neck which meant Shaw had to lean as well and suddenly they were pressed much closer together.

"Can we get going?" Shaw asked, trying very hard not to think about the last time she'd had Root between her legs.

"Of course, Sam. Now hang on."

Shaw had only a second to prepare herself before the beast lept forwards and she was forced to wrap her arms tightly around Root to keep from falling.

Any intentions she'd had to try and get information out of Root on the ride fled almost instantly as she was bounced around. Why anyone enjoyed riding horses was beyond her, though things did get a little easier once she followed Root's advice and used her legs to help keep her balanced. Around them the dark trees blurred by as the horse flew down the path, far faster than the cart had. Shaw didn't know the first thing about horses, but Root's had looked fancier than the one pulling the cart for sure.

She almost lost her balance when they abruptly slowed down.

"Almost there," Root called back to her, and Shaw was pressed so tightly against her now she felt the words echo through Root's body. On either side of them were the sheep pens she knew marked the boundary of the town.

Root stopped a little short of the first building. There were a few nervous-looking guards nearby who might have attempted to stop them from riding in. Shaw kind of wished Root had just run them down.

"As much as I like having you behind me, sweetie, it's time to dismount now."

Shaw was currently completely immune to the extremely unsubtle innuendo due to the fact it felt like her spine had been rammed into her skull by the ride. She cautiously released Root and managed to slide off the horse to the ground. It wasn't graceful, but at least she didn't embarrass herself.

"Thanks for the ride," she said gruffly and then glared at Root's insinuating raised eyebrow. Did she ever stop?

"I'm sure you'll repay the favor in kind soon enough."

No, apparently she didn't.

"What's with the fucking cape anyway?"

"I seem to have misplaced my jacket."

Shaw had forgotten about that. "You left it in my room."

"Maybe I'll stop by later and pick it up."

"Use the door this time."

Root's lips twitched into an almost-soft half smile. "I'll do that." She gathered up her reins, turned her horse, and headed back away from the town.

Shaw didn't realize until she was gone that she'd just invited Root back to her room again. Oh well. She'd deal with that later.

The police officers didn't try to stop her from entering town, but they definitely looked at her with suspicion.

"Where's the murder at, officers?"

The officers exchanged looks and one of them finally said, "I'll show you."

Shaw fell into step down the road with the officer, a young woman who seemed to enjoy scowling at her.

"I'm Shaw," she said in an unprecedented act of socializing. In a close-knit town like this they were going to have to be at least not on bad terms with the locals.

"Lieutenant Dani Silva."

"Do you know what happened, Lieutenant? We got told to come back, but no details."

"I'm sure the Chief will fill you in."

So much for socializing. Shaw gave up and looked around the town instead. The streets were deserted though Shaw saw a few curtains twitch in windows as they passed.

"Did Carter send the whole town home?" Shaw asked. She hadn't seen anyone outside who wasn't in uniform.

"She thought they'd be safer indoors."

"From what exactly?"

"Isn't knowing that _your_ job?"

"Part of it, but so far whatever you got here isn't playing by the rules." She took in Dani's scornful expression and added, "I suppose you always know who the perpetrator is from a glance at the crime scene then?"

That wiped the scorn off Dani's face and replaced it with a more thoughtful look. "We don't get murders here, but I saw a few back in the city. How do you usually go about finding out who...what was responsible?"

"Same way you would for a human culprit to some extent, though we look for different things and there's some extra tools we can use. Where exactly are we going?" They'd gotten almost to the opposite end of town now and were about to clear the last building.

"The pasture up ahead."

As they passed the last building, Shaw could see a group of officers in uniforms clustered near the edge of the road that ran by the sheep pasture. Carter broke off from them as they approached and came to meet her.

"Where's your partner?" she asked.

"Your Sergeant is still driving him back. I got a faster ride."

Carter looked like she really wanted her to elaborate on that, but instead of asking she shook it off and said, "You'd better come have a look."

Like the first one, the body was in pieces, but this body wasn't human.

"Shit," Shaw said with a lot of feeling.

"You know what this is?" Carter asked.

"A really big problem."

The pieces of the corpse didn't exactly match what Shaw remembered--there was way more mass here than there should have been and a hint of claws and legs that bent the wrong way. The yellow snake eyes, staring blankly from the ruined head were a giveaway though. Something had torn the fae she'd nicknamed Grumpy into pieces.

"This was one of the fae Reese and I met in the woods yesterday," she said as she crouched down to examine the corpse better. "Other than the part where this could cause a major political incident, the fact there's something out there that can tear one of the fae apart like this is bad news." She glanced back up at Carter. "Like flee the state level bad news."

She pulled the detector out of her pocket and switched it on, not expecting much. The needle flew upwards, but the only light that switched on was the turquoise light that indicated fae energy.

"You said yesterday that the first murder looked like a demon attack. What about this one?" Carter asked.

"It looks similar, but there's no traces." She put the detector away and examined the scene more carefully. Whatever had done this had grabbed Grumpy by their arms and ripped them almost in half. One of their arms had come free and was lying in a mud puddle nearby and a bunch of gelatinous lumps that must have been whatever sort of internal organs fae had were spread across the road. There wasn't any blood, just the sticky clear liquid that fae had in their veins instead.

"What was one of the fae doing this close to town anyway?" Carter asked.

"I'm not sure." Shaw got back up and looked around the area. The sheep in the nearby pasture were all on the far end, maybe scared off by whatever had happened here. She could see the edge of the forest further down the road, but there was nothing noticeable in that direction and no footprints that weren't human-sized leading that way.

"When Reese gets here, we need to talk to--"

A loud whining noise cut her off and she spun around to see a dark swirling portal in the air on the other side of the road.

"Fuck!" She fumbled in her coat for the artifacts she kept there. "Chief, get everyone out of here if you don't want them to die."

She pulled the amulet she wore under her shirt out--a red stone set in silver on a thin chain--and tapped it twice, willing it to life. It flashed once and she felt a brief pulse of warmth run through her. The glove with the amber chunk got pulled on to her right hand, and a second glove with a translucent stone full of a blue liquid went on her left hand.

"What is that thing?" Carter shouted over the growing roar that came from the portal.

"Oh, you know, just a portal from hell." She glanced back at her. "Unless you have an artifact and some experience fighting demons, you should get the hell out of here and tell Reese to get his ass over here now."

The portal widened suddenly and then shrank in on itself. There was a loud pop and then it was gone, leaving behind a tall figure.

Back when Shaw had first gotten involved in dealing with unnaturals, she'd expected demons to look the way devils did in stories: giant, reddish monsters with cloven hooves and horns and fire all over. In some ways that might have been preferable to the truth. Demons came in all shapes and sizes, all of them extremely unnerving. The demon before her was shaped like an impossibly tall, whip-thin human and looked like it was made out of pale, cracked clay. Deep within those cracks were traces of smoldering embers that glowed when it moved. Its face was smooth with only the hint of a nose and no sign of a mouth or eyes, and the air around it rippled oddly, as if it was sucking in and twisting the light. An ember demon if her guess was right. She knew a good bit about them but had never had to face one before. She was almost looking forwards to it.

"Don't suppose you want to confess to some murders since you're here anyway?" Shaw asked as she took a step back.

The demon looked at her without eyes and a deep, guttural roar echoed from its entire body.

"Worth a shot anyway," Shaw muttered and raised her right gloved hand. The amber on the back of it glowed with a warm light and Shaw braced herself as a shockwave ripped out of it and slammed into the demon.

The cracks in the demon's skin widened for a second and the embers within it glowed brighter, but other than hesitating a step, the attack didn't seem to deter it much. It moved forwards in long, smooth strides, and Shaw gave ground, retreating back towards the town. She didn't want it to rampage all over the town, but she didn't have much of a choice at the moment.

She paused as she neared the first house and looked down at the road. Mud was extremely useless against this thing, but there were a few large rocks embedded in the sides of the road that had potential. She stepped sideways and crouched low enough to place her left hand on the largest stone, bending the artifact's power to her intent. The rock twisted and reshaped itself, stretching into a thin spike with a sharp end that shot up to pierce the demon through the head.

The demon paused and then smashed the spike with one hand and shook its head to send the last piece flying.

Shaw didn't wait for it to regroup, and sent another shockwave flying at it, much stronger this time. The demon actually staggered back a step, but didn't fall. Shaw cursed under her breath. If she'd known she was going to be fighting a demon today, she would have armed herself differently.

The demon lifted one foot and stamped the ground hard. Huge rocks ripped up from deep within the ground and floated in a circle around its body. As they circled faster and faster they started burning with the same deep embers as the demon itself.

"Shit," Shaw said under her breath and got ready to dodge.

The first rock catapulted towards her at incredible speed and slammed into a building behind her when she dodged aside. The other three rocks followed in rapid succession and the last one almost clipped her as she tried to stay ahead of them. Hopefully those buildings were empty because there was definitely the smell of smoke in the air.

"Do bullets work on those things?" Carter's voice asked from behind her.

"I told you to get out of here and no--" Shaw paused when she glanced back to find Carter holding a shotgun. "That won't kill it, but it can help us." She eyed the advancing demon. "Aim for its chest. And give me that." She pointed at Carter's handgun.

Carter handed it over. "Thought you said this wouldn't work on it."

"Not in this form." Shaw grasped the gun with the glove on her left hand and watched it twist and reform into a mostly metal spike. She ignored Carter's outraged look and turned to face the approaching demon. "Don't let it touch you."

She walked sideways, hoping to keep the demon's attention on her and away from Carter. The amulet didn't give her much protection from it, but still more than Carter would have. She fished in her pocket as she walked and pulled out a heavy ring made of dark metal. She jammed it onto her finger. Time to see if she remembered how to use it.

Carter's first shotgun blast knocked the demon sideways. It actually fell to one knee for a second before it got up and turned to look at the new attacker. A second blast tore a hole in its chest, showing black and red lava oozing through it like a river. Shaw took a deep breath and closed in.

The demon knew she was coming even though it wasn't facing her. She wasn't quite clear on how they sensed things, but it definitely could sense her approach. It turned on her and she squeezed the ring on her finger once and stepped to the side.

The demon roared again, that deep, grinding sound that made Shaw's teeth ache, and punched forwards straight through…what looked like her but parted around its hand like smoke. Shaw kept moving to get behind the demon while it puzzled over the intangible illusion that looked just like her. She got a good grip on the metal spike and then drove the spike and her hand straight into the open hole the shotgun had left in the demon's chest. She'd never seen an autopsy of a demon, but she'd studied diagrams of it and if they were right….

She felt the spike hit something heavy and she twisted it and yanked it back out, pulling a large chunk of what looked like a solid piece of lava out with it. The demon shrieked and turned towards her and she quickly wrapped her gloved hand around the lava chunk and sent out another shockwave, this time inwards to her palm. The lava chunk shattered and dust trickled between her fingers.

The demon screamed again and swiped at her with a large hand, fingers elongated into claws. She jumped backwards, but felt one claw scratch across her face above her left eye. Blood ran down into her eye, half-blinding her, but it didn't matter anymore. The demon had collapsed in on itself, like brittle clay crumbling. The black portal from earlier opened around it, swallowed it whole, and then vanished leaving them standing in the empty street.

"What the hell was that thing?" Carter asked as she came over to Shaw.

"Demon. Ember demon to be precise. They're nasty, but there's much worse where they come from." Shaw mopped the blood out of her eye with a shirt sleeve.

"And where's that? Hell?"

"No such place. Just some plane that looks enough like what humans think hell might look like that some idiot decided the creatures there must be demons."

Carter nodded to herself as she took in the mess left behind. There were charred black footprints in the dirt where the demon had walked. "Is that what killed our victims then? You said it looked like a demon attack."

Shaw pulled the detector out of her coat and switched it on. A light at the top lit up red and the needle jumped. "It could have been responsible for what we saw, but something doesn't add up here."

"What doesn't--" Carter stopped as Reese finally came jogging down the street towards them.

"You missed all the fun," Shaw said as she unequipped her gloves and ring. She tapped her amulet again and felt the protection spell dissipate. It wasn't strong enough to protect her against an attack, but it had kept her hand safe long enough for her to reach inside the demon.

"Demon?" Reese asked, looking at the footprints. "Think it's our perp?"

"No." Shaw looked down at the twisted hunk of melted metal that used to be Carter's gun. She handed it back to her. "You're going to need a new gun."

Carter took it gingerly. "Never heard of an artifact that can do whatever the hell this is."

"It's a bit unique." The only one like it, Root had told her when she'd given it to her.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell just happened?"

"Yeah," Shaw mopped more blood off her face. She didn't think the cut was that bad, but it sure was bleeding a lot. "Maybe over a beer though. Or something stronger." She could use a stiff drink after the day she'd had, which reminded her…. "Reese, whatever the hell our perp is, it killed Grumpy."

"Grumpy? The fae was named Grumpy?" Carter asked incredulously.

"No, uh, long story. Definitely don't call them that when talking to any other fae." She looked over at Reese. "Someone's gotta go tell them."

"I'll take care of it." Reese sighed. "We're going to have to report this, you know."

"Yeah, I know." She turned back to Carter. "You should probably go with him as a representative of the town."

"I have to deal with this first." Carter indicated the buildings which were now on fire. Shaw could see uniformed officers escorting people out.

"As soon as you can then. This is going to turn ugly and political really fast." Someone was going to have to tell the bureau eventually and then they'd be all over this place.

"What about you?"

"The fae don't like me much and this is going to be sensitive enough without me there." Also she wanted to avoid any potential weird fae grief shit.

"Better leave that here though." Reese gestured to Carter's shotgun.

Carter looked down at her shotgun and then handed it to Shaw. "Don't melt this one. And when I get back we're having a chat."

"Yeah, fine." Shaw irritably wiped more blood out of her eye. How long was it going to bleed for?

She waited until Carter had gone to assess the fires before she filled Reese in on the rest of what had happened.

"The detector lit up red for this one. Seems weird that it would do that after getting nothing for the murders."

"Definitely something off about the whole thing," Reese agreed. "If I can I'll ask the fae about it again, though it might not be a good time." He raised his chin towards her. "You might want to take care of that."

Blood was still streaming down her face. "Yeah, I'll go do that."

She left him to help out Carter and headed back to the inn. There was no sign of Doris which was fine by her since she definitely didn't want to explain what had just happened to some innkeeper, but there was an entire pile of towels and washcloths in her room. How many showers did Doris think she took a day? Still, they would be useful right now. She wiped the cut off with a damp washcloth which was soaked with blood within seconds. She was beginning to think the damn thing wasn't ever going to stop bleeding.

A knock at her door called her back out of her bathroom.

"Who is it?"

"It's Root." Her voice was muffled through the door.

"Not a great time."

"I can help with your cut. It won't stop bleeding, right?"

Shaw debated for a second and then opened the door. "How the hell did you know about that?"

Root looked exactly the same as she had earlier. She pushed past Shaw into the room. "I got there just in time to see the end of the fight. That was a clever move, using a double like that, but you should have expected it to lash out." She dropped a little bag onto the bed and rummaged in it. "Sit down."

"Why?" Shaw tried to peer over her shoulder.

"Just sit."

Shaw sat cautiously. It wasn't exactly that she thought Root was trying to pull something--after all they'd helped each other out a few times before--but she didn't know why Root was here in this town or how she fit into the mystery and without knowing her motivation it was hard to trust her fully.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Root had a ring on her finger that looked like one of those goth claw rings and ran from her knuckle to fingertip. There was some sort of dark stone embedded into it which likely meant it was an infused artifact of some sort. Shaw eyed it suspiciously.

"Some demons have a toxin in their claws that keeps blood from clotting." Root gently but firmly tugged the washcloth away from Shaw's forehead. "Fortunately for you, I happen to have a demon claw of my own."

"How is that going to help?" Shaw asked. "It's already not clotting."

Root's face was very close to hers now and Shaw thought she saw a hint of worry in her eyes, but it vanished almost instantly, replaced by Root's usual self-assured smugness.

"Because this is a very useful infused artifact made for just this sort of thing."

"How--" Shaw was cut off by Root touching her forehead with the claw. It felt weird against her skin, almost warm.

"This might sting." Root drew the claw right across the open cut, sending pain shooting through the left side of Shaw's face. She grunted and grit her teeth but didn't move.

"All done." Root stepped back and slipped the ring off.

Shaw poked at her forehead experimentally. The cut was still bleeding a little, but definitely less. "Where did you even get that?" she asked.

"I made it." Root wiped the claw off with Shaw's washcloth and then tucked it away. "It can do a few other things as well."

The fact Root was the best crafter that Shaw had ever come across was one of the reasons she hadn't hauled her in for being an illegal fuser years ago. Making infused artifacts was a very, very rare skill, and yet Root made it look easy. And on top of that there was her ability to make non-artifact gadgets like the detector. She was just too useful to be behind bars.

Shaw left Root in the bedroom while she went to the bathroom to examine her face. She wiped away the remaining blood and found the wound underneath had stopped bleeding finally. Whatever the hell that thing Root had made was, it had worked.

"It's really convenient that you just happen to be here with that thing right after an ember demon attacks out of nowhere," she said as she rejoined Root.

Root was examining her jacket. "Out of all the suspicious coincidences happening lately, I promise you this one isn't as sinister as you're implying. I recently acquired a few little toys to help with demons and you got lucky that I had one that could fix your cut."

She fished in the pocket of her jacket and Shaw saw a flicker of an expression on her face. Relief maybe. Interesting since Shaw had assumed she'd left the jacket here on purpose as an excuse to come back. Shaw had put the pill bottle back in the jacket after she'd taken one of the pills to the local drug store pharmacy that morning (which was surprisingly modern, but not well stocked). The pharmacist hadn't had any clue what it was though so it had been a useless trip.

"And you have no clue why an ember demon just popped in through a portal right next to the dismembered corpse of a fae?"

"Maybe it's your killer."

Shaw didn't buy that, but she wasn't willing to elaborate without knowing why Root was here. For all she knew, Root could have summoned the demon herself (though she found that she didn't really believe that).

Root took a step towards her, standing a little too close to be polite. "I saw you still had that artifact I made you. The transform glove."

"Yeah, but I've never gotten that much use out of it. Too slow in a fight." Her second glove was handy for turning other things into weapons, but that wasn't a reliable tactic in a fight.

"I'm disappointed. I'd hoped very much you'd have unlocked all its secrets by now."

"You mean because you can't?"

A flash of annoyance passed across Root's face. She really hadn't liked that she hadn't been able to get an artifact she'd made to work for her, but that Shaw had.

"Why not make another one? Maybe you crossed the wrong wires the first time or however it works."

The corner of Root's lips quirked up. "Crossed the wrong wires. That's adorable. And I can't because the original artifact I made it from went missing, so the one you have there is the only one like it now. You really should try to use it more."

"Yeah, maybe." If she ever got bored enough, anyway. "Thanks for the help. You can go now."

Root looked amused, but she backed off. "Such a gracious host."

"I have work to do." Partly true. She was waiting on Reese and Carter to get back, but she'd planned to read up on ember demons a bit while she waited.

"Is it something I could help with?" She was standing in the middle of the room, bag clutched tightly in both hands, and looking a little lost. Just what the hell was up with her?

"Not unless you want to tell me why an ember demon just showed up and tried to kill me."

"I don't know, but I could guess."

That was more than Shaw had gotten out of her so far. She must really not want to leave. "Guess then."

Root sat down on the edge of the bed and put her bag and folded cloak down next to her. She'd changed back into her jacket and she played with the snap on one of the sleeves as she spoke.

"I think the ember demon was a distraction, and possibly a warning. I assume you've concluded that it wasn't what killed the farmer and the fae? Maybe someone is giving you an easy out. Just say you took care of the problem, collect your pay, and leave."

"And when the real killer strikes again?"

"You'll already have been paid. Why should you care?"

It made a lot of sense when Root put it that way. She walked over to the bed to stand in front of her and waited until Root looked up to meet her eyes.

"What killed the farmer, Root?"

Root looked away. "That's complicated. Maybe you should take the money and leave. Might be safer."

Shaw scoffed. "Safe isn't my thing."

That got a tiny smile out of Root. "I'm aware, but maybe this once…."

"So you want me to leave?" Not that there was any chance in hell of that happening.

"Not necessarily."

Shaw could feel her exasperation levels hitting critical. "What _do_ you want then?"

Root leaned back on her hands, her lips turned up in a suggestive smile, and one eyebrow raised. She reached up with one hand and tugged tentatively at Shaw's shirt, trying to pull her down. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Shaw to pick her up by the scruff of her neck and dump her in the hall, but instead she froze, torn between annoyance and a desire to shove Root down across the bed and climb on top of her.

Root tugged again. "Why did you come back to look for me after Fairfield, Shaw?"

Shaw gave in. "Shut up." She pushed Root down onto the bed, rested one knee next to Root's legs, and leaned on her hands above her. Root only smiled and looked up at her through hooded eyes with her lips slightly parted.

Shaw barely had time to think about all the ways this was a bad idea before Root grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her down into a demanding kiss. And damn if it didn't feel good to feel Root pressed up against her again after all this time. Their previous encounters had been a string of one night stands, but she'd never had a one night stand she'd thought about afterwards even half as much.

She firmly put aside rational thoughts about demons and fae and motives in favor of losing herself in the feeling of Root's body beneath hers. When they came up for air, Shaw sat up enough to shove Root's jacket wide open and undo the top button on her shirt. She tsked a little when she saw the uneven scar running from Root's collarbone down to between her breasts. She'd been there when Root had gotten that and she'd wondered if it hadn't killed Root after she disappeared. She ran a finger along the ugly length of it and then leaned down to trace the same path with her mouth. At the very least she could have stitched it better than whoever Root had found.

Root's hands tugged at her shirt, this time trying to pull it up. Shaw knocked them away and instead undid another button on Root's shirt. "Don't suppose you have any other artifacts with you that might be fun?" she asked as she played with one of Root's bra straps. Not that they'd need them to have a good time, but the thought had crossed her mind a few times.

That got a frown out of Root for some reason. "No, nothing like that."

"Why not?" Shaw sat up enough to reach for Root's belt. No reason not to skip ahead to the good part. After all, Reese and Carter would come back eventually.

"That's--" Root paused and frowned. She reached down to stop Shaw's hands. "Shaw, wait. We need to take a brief raincheck on this."

"What? Why?" She got up when Root started sitting up and stepped back. "You're the one who suggested this in the first place."

"Yes, and if there was any way I could stay now I would." Root buttoned her shirt up and adjusted her jacket. "But there's somewhere I need to be right now."

"And you just happened to remember right now."

"Something like that." Root looked apologetic. "Don't frown, sweetie, I promise I'll be back to let you finish what you started."

"Who says I even want to?"

Root chuckled and patted Shaw on the cheek. "I'll see you later." She gathered her belongings and left, through the door this time.

"What the hell is even going on in this town?" Shaw asked the empty room quietly. She glanced down and found that Root had undone her belt at some point without her realizing it. Root definitely hadn't been planning on leaving which made the whole thing make even less sense. Shaw did her belt back up with a sigh and went to steal Reese's book on demons.


	3. Grim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sexy times marked off by the double line breaks 
> 
> hope everyone is enjoying the story, and huge thanks to all who've left comments/kudos!

"Doris agreed to give us some privacy for the next hour," Carter said as she set a dusty bottle of what looked to be decent whiskey down on the table. "Now talk."

Reese looked at Shaw expectantly, like somehow explaining things was her job now. She wasn't even sure what he'd told Carter on their trip out to see the fae so she really had no clue where to start.

She snagged a glass and poured herself a small shot of whiskey to buy herself time. The common room of the inn was completely empty other than for them, and with Doris gone the entire inn should be as well. No one here to listen in to all the incredibly big secrets if she chose to tell them.

"How about you tell me how the meeting with the fae went first?" she suggested. She took a sip of the whiskey and nodded in approval. Better than she'd expected. Carter had taste.

Carter looked like she might object, but Reese started talking before she could.

"We met with the other fae who we'd talked to last time. They seemed to already be aware of the fact their friend was dead and requested the return of the body as soon as possible." Reese nodded his thanks when Shaw poured him some whiskey as well. "They didn't have much to say about the incident other than the fact that faerie and its denizens don't hold this town responsible."

"This town?" Shaw asked. "They said this town?"

Reese nodded grimly and Shaw groaned silently. Fucking fae politics.

"Why is that important?" Carter asked. "Does that mean they might hold other humans or towns responsible?"

"It doesn't _not_ mean that anyway," Shaw grumbled as she reached for the bottle again. "Gotta watch your wording with the fae, and think twice about their word choices."

"You aren't going to have the wild hunt show up on your doorstep," Reese tried to reassure Carter.

"The _what_?"

Shaw chewed on her bottom lip as she watched Reese try (and fail) to reassure Carter again. Carter was smart and she'd helped Shaw earlier, but this whole situation was a tinderbox ready to explode and Shaw wasn't sure how much she could trust anyone other than Reese at this point. She wished she'd had a chance to talk to him alone after they'd gotten back, but Carter had dragged both of them here immediately.

"Hold on." Carter held up a hand, cutting off whatever Reese had been saying about boggarts. "Start with why neither of you think the thing we killed earlier is our murderer."

Shaw exchanged a quick glance with Reese and sighed. "The detector we use shows us readings from recent energy traces of certain types of unnaturals. It didn't show anything at either murder site other than the fact our second victim was fae, but after the demon attacked it showed a ton of energy from the demon plane. That doesn't make any sense if that thing was the killer because we should have detected that energy all over the crime scenes as well." It probably wasn't a good time to mention that the demon wasn't actually dead, just back home.

"And there's no way it could have covered up its...energy traces?" Carter asked thoughtfully.

"None that we know of," Reese said. "When an unnatural shows up its energy usually sticks around for a few days. When you get an area that's had a lot of activity over an extended period of time, you get residual energy readings that can last for years. Kind of like a glass leaving a wet ring behind."

There had been residual elemental energy readings back in the woods, but Shaw didn't think that was related. There was residual unnatural energy all over the damn place. Earth had been a popular neutral territory and hunting ground for a lot of other planes before humans had gotten to the point that they'd posed enough of a threat to make visiting unnaturals more cautious.

"So why the hell did a demon decide to appear on my murder scene?"

"A distraction," Shaw said, pushing away the fleeting thought of taking the payment and leaving. "Someone summoned it in the hopes we'd think it was the killer and stop looking."

"They may have wanted to kill us as well," Reese added.

Shaw paused with her glass halfway to her mouth. That hadn't actually occurred to her since it had never crossed her mind that she might lose.

"So we're back to square one then," Carter said. Shaw could hear the frustration in her voice. No one had died earlier, but two buildings were badly damaged and the townsfolk were terrified. This was probably more excitement than the town had seen in the last ten years combined.

"Not quite," Shaw said slowly. She still wasn't sure how much she could trust Carter, but some parts of this were unavoidable. "You need to report the death of the fae to the proper authorities, and that's probably going to bring some attention to this place that you might not want."

"What sort of attention?"

"The Unnatural Affairs and Relations Bureau might send someone out here to investigate. Depending on what details you give them they might send a whole lot of people and turn your life into a living hell." None of the ways this played out were particularly good, but some were worse than others. Shaw glanced at Reese one last time and then pushed ahead. "There's two things that could commit the murders we saw without leaving any energy reading behind. One is a fuser, but that's unlikely since I've never heard of an infused artifact giving someone the strength to do that."

Which didn't mean it was impossible. There was also the possibility that they were using this theoretical original artifact that might be hidden here, but that felt off to Shaw. Why stick around town murdering farmers if you already had the prize?

"And the second?" Carter asked.

Shaw tossed back her drink and set the glass on the table with a click. "That would be a warlock."

* * *

_Fairfield had been a pretty normal town for all of its history. It had maybe five thousand residents the spring when the warlock showed up and none of them had been unnaturals or fusers or even noteworthy. Nor was there anything unique about the town or any artifacts hidden there or even a faerie circle. It was about as boring and normal as a place could be._

_The warlock had started out in a different town, just over the state line, and killed fifty-two people in under an hour. Then it'd vanished without a trace and only reappeared two days later to cause chaos in another nearby town. The bureau had deployed troops to the area already and managed to drive the warlock off, but not before it'd destroyed three square blocks of the town and left hundreds dead._

_Fairfield had been the next closest town in the same general direction and so the obvious place to send troops next, but some bad intel had led to the bureau sending most of the troops to other towns in the area and only a handful of agents (including Reese and Shaw) to Fairfield. No evacuations were needed according to their orders. Shaw hadn't liked it, but she had obeyed orders._

_The warlock had shown up a little after noon. Shaw had been patrolling the perimeter of the town with Reese, keeping an eye out for just this sort of thing, so they were on the opposite side of town when the warlock arrived. Which had saved their lives._

_Entire neighborhoods were on fire within minutes, the sky blacked out by smoke and the whole town lit up with the red glow of flames. The day had gone from warm and still to sweltering and windy within seconds and embers rained from the sky and spread the flames everywhere. Everyone in the town had panicked and tried to flee._

_When the casualty list was finally released weeks later, there were two thousand dead, and another five hundred missing. Many of the survivors were badly injured or suffered from smoke inhalation and the vast majority of them had some form of ptsd._

_Shaw and Reese had been hailed as heroes for their efforts in saving people and helping to kill the warlock, even though in the end it had been the arrival of the army that had really turned the tide._

_The thing that bothered Shaw the most after hadn't been the memories of the flames or the people dying or the injuries she'd sustained, but the fact that no one ever found out why. There had never been a clear motive established and the Unnatural Affairs and Relations Bureau had seemed content to shut the book on the whole affair and move on. Half a town wiped out in a single afternoon and no one was even willing to ask questions._

_Both of them had resigned from the ISA shortly after and never looked back._

* * *

"You two were actually in Fairfield?" Carter looked somewhere between impressed and sympathetic.

Shaw stared into her glass, not particularly inclined to go into any detail.

Carter must have picked up on the mood because she switched tacts. "So what exactly is a warlock anyway? What makes them so damn dangerous?"

"You know how when demons or fae show up on this world they're not at full power?" Reese asked. "Like that ember demon today would have destroyed this whole town if it had been able to use all its power."

"Sure," Carter said. "Unnaturals from other planes can't travel between planes without severely decreasing their power. I had the training back in the day."

"Warlocks are a loophole in that." Reese reached for the whiskey bottle and then seemed to think better of it. "When a human creates a pact with an unnatural from another plane, they can use as much of that unnatural's power as they're given access to. There's even theories that warlocks can actually amplify their patron's powers, like a focusing lens."

"And you think there's one of these warlocks running around here now? Like the thing that destroyed Fairfield?"

"We don't know," Shaw admitted, her frustration slipping into her voice. "But it could be. If you mention that when you call in the murder, you're going to have an entire army here in a day at the most." She could tell from Carter's expression that she didn't like that idea at all. "Alternatively you could wait a day and see if we can dig up something more."

"And if this thing decides to raze my town in the meantime?" Carter blew out an exasperated breath. "What does it even want here?"

"The warlock in Fairfield was the first one to show up in a very long time," Reese said. "And we never found out anything about what it wanted. It just killed everything and moved on."

They'd never found out who it had been either. No name, no gender, no motive. If the bureau had known, they hadn't shared.

There was a knock at the door and Sergeant Fusco popped his head in. "Hey, boss, we got a minor situation here with people freaking out about actual demons from hell invading."

Carter got up and fixed Reese and Shaw with a glare. "The two of you better not run off, because this conversation isn't even close to being over."

"Won't move a muscle," Shaw promised. Reese attempted to smile reassuringly again.

She waited until the door had shut behind Carter. "I think it's time we got ourselves a little backup, don't you?"

Reese nodded slowly. "Let me grab my bag."

* * *

"We could just leave," Reese pointed out as they tromped through the grassy field at the edge of the town.

Shaw chuckled. "Your hero complex would never let you leave."

Reese smiled in acknowledgment. "But what about you, Shaw? No reason for you to stick around, is there?"

Shaw stared off across the gloomy grey fields towards the dark woods beyond. She missed the city. She missed takeout food and electricity and cars and not being waist deep in mud and livestock. She had nothing to prove by staying here, but…. "If I wanted to leave it'd involve riding a horse and I'm not that desperate yet."

"Looked like you enjoyed your ride with Root earlier."

Shaw didn't rise to the bait this time. "I wish I knew what the hell she wanted."

"You mean in this town or from you? Because I think it's pretty clear--"

"I _will_ shoot you." Shaw kicked a clump of grass as hard as she could, pretending it was Reese's face. "We're missing something."

"You mean why hasn't the all-powerful warlock already just blasted the town apart until it found the artifact?"

"Yeah, that. Every known warlock in history has just gone right for maximum destruction. Something that powerful doesn't need to hide."

"Maybe they're just scared of you, Shaw."

"They better be."

They came to a halt in front of a low stone wall and peered over it into a large plot of tombstones. There was a newer graveyard on the other side of the town, but this one was old and the grass had been allowed to grow high and the headstones were cracked and faded. All of this was somewhat lost on Shaw at the moment though because sitting on top of one of the headstones under a large tree was--

"Root. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Root winked at her in that weird way she had. "Nice to see you, too, sweetie. And maybe I just like hanging out in graveyards."

With Root that was actually believable though Shaw didn't buy it in the present circumstances.

Root got up and wandered over to meet them at the gate. "And what are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be busy protecting the town from roving demons?"

Shaw pushed past her into the graveyard. "Carter can handle it for an hour." She found a relatively clear spot in the grass. "Think here'll work?" she called back to Reese.

Reese looked over the area critically and nodded. "Should be fine." He opened the small bag he'd brought with him and fished around inside.

"Just what are you two up to?" Root asked as she leaned against a headstone. "Something illegal?"

"If you're not going to be quiet then you can leave," Shaw told her crossly.

"I was here first."

"That's not--"

Reese cut in. "I'm ready to start as soon as you both quiet down."

Shaw glared once more at Root just for the look of things and then turned to watch Reese.

The object he'd taken out of his bag was a round silver disk about as wide across as his palm with a couple chunks of dark stone stuck in it. He set it down on the patch of grass they'd chosen and then knelt down next to it. Once he was settled he planted two fingertips from each hand on either side of the disk and shut his eyes.

Shaw had seen him do this before a couple of times and it never failed to impress her and make her a little bit jealous. Of all the artifacts to have a hard time using, it had to be the coolest one that she'd never been able to master.

Reese twisted his fingers on the disk and the stones all lit up with a deep purple glow. A few feet in front of him the air rippled and swirled and a circular hole warped its way into existence a foot above the ground. Shaw only had a split second to look through the portal but she thought maybe she saw trees beyond. A dark forest. Then a large, black shape leaped through the portal and landed on the grass.

"Well, I definitely wasn't expecting _that_ ," Root said quietly behind her.

The portal shut leaving the huge, black dog standing in front of them, its lips pulled back in a snarl. It almost could have passed for a normal dog at a quick glance, but there was something smoke-like and fluid about it that made it seem slightly off. Reese took his hands off the disk and cautiously extended one towards the dog which sniffed him and then wagged its tail.

"Good boy," Reese said affectionately and gave the dog a pat on the head.

"A church grim," Root said, watching thoughtfully. "Though there's no church here."

Shaw rolled her eyes. "No such thing as a church grim. It's just some type of dog-shaped spirit-y thing from a different plane. Though he does seem to be partial to graveyard summons for some reason." She knelt down next to Reese so she could pet the dog as well. He didn't feel like he had fur; it was almost like running her hands through water. "He's helped us out before."

"So your artifact always calls this specific...dog?"

"We don't really know," Reese said. "He's the only one that's ever shown up though. Maybe he just likes Shaw."

Shaw frowned. "Considering nothing showed up when I tried to use the artifact, I doubt it." She kept running her hands through the dog's smooth coat. There was something very soothing about his presence, and not just because she knew how powerful an ally he could be. "He'll help watch our backs now, for a few days at least."

"And how much use will Grim be if another demon shows up?" Root asked doubtfully.

"Quite a lot actually," Shaw said resentfully. How dare Root insult their dog. "And you don't get to name our dog." She gave the-dog-who-definitely-wasn't-named-Grim-even-if-it-was-a-cool-name a last pat and stood up. "What's next?"

Reese shrugged. "Guess we keep looking. Maybe someone in town can give us a clue as to where someone might hide out around here."

"May I make a suggestion?" Root asked. She stood up off the headstone and dusted herself off.

"No," Shaw replied automatically and then, "Fine, what?"

"If you're assuming that even if the demon that showed up isn't responsible for the other killings, that it is somehow linked to whatever killed the others, the fae might have more inclination to help you out now."

Reese looked doubtful. "I'm not so sure--"

"Also," Root interrupted him, "isn't it strange that the fae who died was so close to town and nowhere near their faerie ring?"

Shaw couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that, because it was a damned good point. Somehow it had gotten lost in all the excitement.

"You up for another visit to faerie land?" she asked Reese.

"Tomorrow. Not while it's dark."

Shaw hadn't realized how late it had gotten, but the sun was slipping down towards the horizon. A heavy fog was gathering on the edge of the treeline and creeping out into the fields in a way she found unnerving. "Let's head back then."

Root didn't seem to have any intention of leaving them and walked along next to Shaw as they plodded through the field. Shaw glanced back over her shoulder once, but the dog had vanished into thin air. She knew he was still there though. He'd reappear when they needed him.

She watched Root out of the corner of her eye as they walked. She seemed a little different from a year ago though Shaw couldn't quite put her finger on why. Definitely more distant for one thing. And she was walking a little stiffly today for some reason--not her usual dramatic strut.

The last time she'd seen Root it had been seconds before a burning building collapsed and separated them. Root had been bleeding and had burns and probably some broken ribs and Shaw hadn't been sure she wasn't dying. When the warlock had finally gone down, she'd looked all over the remains of Fairfield for Root, searching for any sign. She hadn't found a single trace of her, but at least she hadn't found a body. She'd never really thought Root was dead, and now a year later she'd been proven right. So what had happened to her after they'd been separated in the fight?

It was almost full dark when they made it back to town and the streets were deserted again. Shaw suspected everyone had locked themselves in extra secure, though all that meant was it'd be harder for them to escape if a demon lit their house on fire.

She expected Root to leave them, but instead she continued keeping pace with them all the way back to the inn. Sergeant Fusco was waiting for them in the inn common room.

"Chief told me to wait here for you. She said a few words I can't repeat while on duty when she found out you two had run off."

"Just getting some fresh air," Reese assured him.

"Yeah, well, try telling her that. She wants you two down at the station first thing in the morning."

"We'll be there," Reese promised him.

The three of them waited silently until Fusco had left.

"We can go see the fae after we talk to Carter," Reese said.

"Yeah, sure." There were a lot of things they needed to sort out still--like whether or not they were going to leave town if the bureau showed up--but that could wait until the morning. Fighting a demon meant she'd earned an early bed time.

Reese nodded at both of them and then headed up the stairs, leaving them alone in a silence that was awkward for Shaw but didn't seem to bother Root.

"You should know there's a decent chance the bureau might show up in the next day or two," Shaw said. Root was an unlicensed fuser among other illegal things and there was a standing order out to bring any unlicensed fusers in for questioning.

"Worried about me?"

"Just giving you a heads up in case you need to quit town."

"That's sweet of you." Root sounded a little distracted and when Shaw looked at her she was gazing off into the distance, eyes unfocused.

Shaw sighed. "I'm going upstairs. Are you coming or what?"

Root blinked and refocused on her. Her face stretched into a smile. "How can I refuse so gracious an offer?"

"Whatever. Come on."

She motioned for Root to go up the stairs first and watched her from the back. She was definitely moving stiffly like Shaw had thought, almost like she was in pain. Root stepped aside to let her unlock her door and then followed her in. She didn't make any move to take off her jacket or sit and Shaw had to maneuver around her as she put her stuff away.

"You just gonna stand there all night?"

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea tonight," Root said.

Shaw almost threw up her hands in frustration. "What's going on with you lately?"

Root shook her head. "That's complicated. Can I have some of that?" She nodded at the pitcher of water Doris had left on the table for Shaw. When Shaw didn't object she poured herself a glass and pulled her pill bottle out of her pocket. She swallowed two pills with some water and put the bottle away.

"What're the pills?" Shaw asked. She sat on the edge of the bed.

"The pharmacist didn't tell you."

"And how do you know I asked a pharmacist?"

Root shrugged. "I didn't know until a few seconds ago."

"One more cryptic answer and I kick you out."

"That might not be a bad idea," Root said, but she sat down in the chair and perched stiffly at the edge of the seat. "Sorry. It's been a long day."

Shaw couldn't remember ever hearing her apologize before, at least not sincerely. "What're the pills?" she asked more quietly. "Did you get hurt in Fairfield? I mean something long term."

"No, nothing like that. I'll be fine tomorrow. I shouldn't have come back with you tonight."

"Where are you staying anyway? Camping out?"

Root shook her head. "I've got a place that I stay at a short ride away from here."

Shaw looked out the window. It had gotten very dark since they'd gotten back, definitely not a good time to be out riding, even more so with whatever it was out there killing people.

"There's a lot of empty rooms in this place. Might be safer to crash in one for the night."

Root nodded, eyes unfocused again. "What will you do if the thing murdering people here turns out to be another warlock?"

She didn't recall mentioning the warlock possibility to Root, but she wasn't surprised she'd come to the same conclusion. "Kill it as quickly as possible. You were in Fairfield, Root, you saw what they can do."

"Yes, I did." Root got up. "You said the other rooms were empty?"

"The one across the hall is Reese, but the rest, yeah."

"Goodnight, Shaw." Root smiled at her as she left.

Shaw thought about going after her, demanding explanations, but she figured that was likely to just send Root out the door completely. She stared at the shut door for a few minutes and then got up and got ready for bed. When she settled under the covers for the night, she saw a flash of movement from the floor: smooth black fur in the moonlight.

"Good boy," she said quietly.

A tail smacked against the wooden floorboards. She fell asleep knowing that Grim was watching over her.

She woke up later that night when she heard her door handle rattling. Her gun was out and pointed before she was even fully awake.

"It's just me," Root said as the door pushed open a crack.

Grim hadn't appeared so Shaw figured Root wasn't here to murder her--he had good instincts for that sort of thing. She put her gun down and reached for her lighter to light the candle in the lamp.

"Leave it off." There was just enough moonlight for her to see that Root was only wearing an oversized shirt now, her long legs bare.

"What time is it?" Shaw asked sleepily.

Instead of answering, Root crossed the room to the bed and pulled back the sheets enough that she could climb directly on top of Shaw. Her bare legs were ice cold from the chilly night and Shaw shuffled around to sit up more as Root straddled her.

"Root, what--"

Root cut her off by pressing their lips together, her fingers gripping Shaw's shirt tightly.

"Two rules," Root said when she pulled back. "Don't touch my back, and don't ask why not."

"If you're hurt then maybe w--"

Root pressed her finger to Shaw's lips and raised an eyebrow. Shaw fell silent and after a moment Root removed her finger and leaned in to kiss her again. It was hard to not forget and put a hand on Root's back, but Shaw kept her hands out of trouble by running them over every other part of Root she could reach.

* * *

* * *

It was strange to be touching her again after an entire year apart. She'd gotten to know Root's body pretty well before and there was something exciting about rediscovering her now--the curve of her ass, the softness of her breasts, the way she kissed like it was an attack and a dare at the same time.

"You start without me?" Shaw asked when they came up for air. There was no way she could have missed how wet Root was against her thigh.

"A bit, maybe." Root smiled at her in the dim light. "But I saved the best parts for you."

"So I see." She dipped her fingers between Root's legs. "This why you came back?"

"Mmm, didn't want to leave you hanging again."

Shaw pushed into her slowly with two fingers, marvelling at how easily she took them. How long had Root been touching herself before she showed up? She added a third finger and grunted in approval at the way Root squirmed and clawed at her back. She could have easily gotten lost in how slick and hot Root's body was around her fingers, but she had other priorities. She curled her fingers experimentally and Root's hips rolled forwards in response.

"You want me to go down on you?" Shaw murmured into Root's ear in a throaty whisper. She got a little more determined with her fingers, delighting in how much she remembered about pulling the best reactions out of Root.

"Not tonight," Root managed to get out between panting breaths.

"Hmm, guess there's always next time." She gripped Root's hip tightly with her free hand, her thumb tracing back and forth over a rough spot of scar tissue right over Root's hip bone.

She waited until Root's movement started getting more erratic and then transferred her grip to Root's throat. A bit of pressure just _there_ and Root fell apart instantly, like just the idea of it had been more than enough.

Root leaned her forehead on Shaw's shoulder as she recovered and Shaw groped her butt a bit more since her back was off limits.

"You're still very good at that," Root said without moving.

"You think I wouldn't be?"

"Not at all. I'd just missed it." Root picked her head up and leaned in to kiss her. Shaw indulged her briefly and then pulled back. She was going to be dead tired tomorrow, which meant they had no time to waste if she wanted to get any sleep at all.

"Now let's see if you're still good at this." She pushed Root back by the shoulders, urging her down the bed. Root helped her pull off the boxers she'd been sleeping in before settling between her legs.

Even in the dim light there was something captivating for Shaw about watching Root's head between her legs. She shivered when Root sucked a mark onto the inside of her thigh and then moaned when Root sank her teeth in with determination. She tugged at Root's hair.

"I gotta sleep sometime and it's ass o'clock in the morning already."

"Three twenty-two," Root corrected and then, before Shaw could ask her how she knew that, she leaned in to put her mouth on Shaw.

"Fuck," Shaw muttered appreciative. Root had always been good with her tongue both in and out of the bedroom. Shaw relaxed into the feeling of Root's hot mouth on her and rocked her hips slowly into her. This wasn't the fast, aggressive sex she'd imagined them having tonight, but she was really damn tired and it just felt nice and that was more than good enough for now.

She tangled her hands in Root's hair and, as casually as she could, pulled the long strands to the side, bit by bit. Root's shirt had pulled down a little, exposing just the top bit of her back. It was too dark for Shaw to see clearly, but it looked like the skin there was discolored in some way. She wanted to touch the spot, but she had a feeling Root would stop and leave her if she did and she definitely didn't want that.

Root adjusted so she could slide into her with two fingers, and Shaw fell back against her pillows and pulled Root's face in tighter against her. Somewhere in the midst of grinding herself against Root's face until she came she forgot all about the mystery of Root's back.

"Fuck that was nice," she murmured as she relaxed her grip on Root's hair.

* * *

* * *

Root crawled back up her body and beamed down at her, clearly satisfied with her own handiwork. She leaned down to kiss Shaw again, but only for a brief moment before she slipped away and got out of bed.

"We should do that again sometime," she said as she straightened out her shirt. "Goodnight, Shaw."

"Uh, night," Shaw said, slightly puzzled by her quick retreat. She hadn't expected Root to stick around all night, but she definitely didn't remember Root ever taking off this quickly.

She was too tired to put much thought into it though, so she readjusted the blankets and fell back asleep almost at once. She didn't stir again until a knock on her door woke her up the next morning.

"What?" she called as she grabbed her boxers off the floor.

"Shaw, it's me," came Reese's voice through the door. "We have a problem."

Shaw, now somewhat more clothed, opened the door. Reese looked more agitated than she'd seen him look in ages. "What's going on?"

"The bureau. They're here already."


	4. The Empty Field

"Where's Root?" Reese asked, looking around as if he expected to find her lurking in a corner.

"Well, not in here," Shaw said crossly. "And who from the bureau is here?"

"There's a whole group of them. They just pulled up outside town in a bunch of SUVs."

Shaw retreated into her room in search of pants. "How the hell did they get cars here? The road is blocked off to prevent that."

"They probably got airlifted in nearby. The speed that they got here means they must have travelled fast."

"Any idea how much they know?" She grabbed a sports bra and shirt and started changing into them.

"Well, I didn't exactly go say hi." Reese turned his back.

"We're probably going to have to. We're here on a real job so it's not like we've done anything wrong. Or not that much anyway." Not reporting a warlock and an artifact were both serious crimes though there was no way for the bureau to know about that. Both of them were also licensed for most of the infused artifacts they had so at the worst they should just be seen as a nuisance.

Unlike Root.

"I should warn her," Shaw said, pushing past Reese into the hall.

"That's why I asked where she was," Reese said a little reproachfully.

Shaw ignored him and started pushing open the doors to the other guest rooms. She was surprised that Root hadn't taken the one right next to her, and she started to wonder if maybe she'd already taken off as room after room was empty.

She found Root in the last room at the end of the hall, sprawled out on her stomach on a bed in a tangle of blankets. Somehow her shirt had ridden up a little in the back and the blanket had been pushed down just enough to show Shaw a thin strip of her back. There was something there, lines, a tattoo maybe, and the skin all around it was red and inflamed.

The door banging open must have woken Root up because she raised her head and regarded Shaw wearily. "What's wro--" She paused. "Oh, I need to leave."

"How did you know that?" Did Root have some artifact that let her read minds or spy on people remotely? "Never mind, you need to get out of here before the bureau shows up."

Root tried to push herself up, and the color drained from her face. She didn't make a sound, but Shaw could see her swallow hard and grit her teeth.

"Can you hand me my pill bottle, please?" The bottle was sitting on the little table next to the bed along with a glass of water (how had she gotten a glass of water in the room she was illegally sleeping in?). Shaw picked up the bottle and weighed it in her hand.

"Tell me what they are."

"Just painkillers."

Shaw must have looked doubtful because she added, "I promise, Shaw, they're painkillers."

Shaw handed the bottle over and then held the glass of water until Root managed to slowly pull herself upright.

"What's wrong with her?" Reese asked from the doorway.

"Nothing that shooting you can't fix," Root said from between gritted teeth.

Shaw turned back to Reese. "I need to get her out of here. Think you can keep the bureau busy until we're gone?"

"Shaw, I'm fine."

"I'll do my best," Reese said, ignoring Root. "What should I say about where you are?"

"Uh, maybe I went out overnight to scout the area and try to catch the killer?"

"That'll work for now." Reese fished in his pocket and tossed something to her. Shaw turned the little metal disk over in her hands, unsure why he'd given it to her.

"We don't know if Grim can get far away from it, and you should have him watching your back," he explained.

"I could never make the damn thing work, you know that."

"He's already summoned so you shouldn't have to, right?" Reese glanced back over his shoulder. "I need to go. Get back here as soon as you can."

When Shaw turned back, she found Root watching her thoughtfully.

"I don't need a babysitter, Shaw." She didn't sound like she believed herself.

"Can you even put your pants on by yourself right now?"

Root tried to reach for the jeans she'd left in a pile on the floor and sucked in a sharp breath. Shaw rolled her eyes.

"Here." She chucked Root's pants at her face. "I'm going to grab some things from my room and you'd better still be here when I get back." She wasn't too worried. She didn't think Root was capable of getting very far right now.

Back in her own room she started shoving things into her pack: medical supplies, guns, infused artifacts, clothes. She wasn't planning to be gone long, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. There was this question in the back of her mind about whether this was even a good idea. She didn't owe Root anything, and while Root had been a good ally in the past, she was clearly hiding something now. Shaw could just hand her over and let the bureau drag the answers out of her. Fortunately she hated the bureau enough that she didn't have to think too much about her real motives for helping Root escape.

She didn't like the idea of some snoop from the bureau going through her stuff while she was gone, so she pushed the bed to one side and knelt as she pulled her transform glove on. The floorboards warped up to the sides under her hand and she placed the more sensitive stuff she couldn't bring with her in the space below. The boards didn't warp back particularly neatly, but it would have to do. She shoved the bed back in place and left.

Root had managed to get dressed by the time she got back, and looked slightly more functional than earlier. Whatever the pills were, they must have helped.

"Let's go," Shaw said. "Hope wherever you're headed isn't too far a walk."

"We're not walking," Root said as they headed out into the hall. "Bacchanalia is in the stable here."

"Might be risky getting her out."

"I'm not leaving without her."

Shaw rolled her eyes. If Root got caught over a dumb horse, it wasn't her fault.

Root seemed to mostly be able to walk on her own, but it was clear from the way she held herself that she was in a lot of pain. She braced herself against the stair railing as she descended and Shaw watched her climb down. It wasn't going to be easy getting her out of town, but in her condition maybe the horse would be better.

Doris still wasn't in the inn common room. If it hadn't been for the food she left out, Shaw would have thought she'd fled town. The street outside was empty as well, and Shaw could almost see the stable down the road despite the heavy fog that had settled over the town. At least it'd be easier to sneak around in this.

"Wait here," Shaw ordered as she pushed the door open.

"And how do you intend to get a bridle on Bacchanalia? She bites." Root asked, an amused smile on her lips. It made her look more like she usually did.

"You _would_ have a horse that bites." Shaw sighed. "Guess you get to come with me."

"Sounds fun."

Shaw narrowed her eyes, unable to tell if that had been a dirty joke or not.

The streets stayed empty as they crept through the heavy fog. Shaw would never have admitted it out loud, but it was extremely creepy. The fog crawled lazily through the streets like it had a mind of its own and little swirls of it kept catching her eye and making her think she'd seen something moving.

"At least there's no sign of the bureau yet," she said when they reached the stable.

"They're not too far away. They'll send someone to the inn soon to see if you're there."

"How do you know this shit?"

Root shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

Shaw shook her head in disgust and walked into the stable. Inside it was a lot warmer, and the smell and sound of horses was almost nice this time. This place was having a bad effect on her.

There was one lone stablehand at the end of the aisle, but he didn't seem interested in coming near them. Strangers were probably not going to win popularity awards here this week, even if they had fought off a demon.

Bacchanalia stood out from the other horses. She was taller, more graceful, and definitely looked vindictive in Shaw's opinion. Shaw tried to stay outside the stall while Root got her ready, but she ended up having to help Root lift the saddle up after watching her grimace on her first attempt.

They were going to be having a discussion about her back _very_ soon if Shaw had her way.

"Maybe you should get on in front this time," Root suggested after they'd tied their packs to the saddle.

"Uh, right." Shaw looked up at the huge horse doubtfully and it eyed her suspiciously in return. She had to use the side of the stall to mount while Root held the horse steady and then there was the painful process of pulling Root up behind her. Root slipped her arms under Shaw's to grab the reins much to Shaw's relief. Short of yelling 'go!' and kicking the horse she had no idea what to do next.

The street was still empty as they rode back outside, but the fog had gotten much heavier. Tendrils of it curled out to meet them.

"Is this normal?" Shaw asked. She wished she could reach her detector in her pack, but she was too busy trying to keep her balance and holding onto the saddle.

"The fog? No, but it's not dangerous."

Shaw sighed. "Are you ever planning to explain what the fuck is going on around here?"

Root didn't answer and instead urged Bacchanalia forwards. Shaw clutched the saddle and concentrated on holding on. They left town on the main road and followed it for longer than Shaw had expected. She'd thought Root must have had a cabin or something right outside town, but she showed no sign of stopping.

Rain started falling, an almost torrential downpour out of nowhere. Bacchanalia slowed down and Shaw had to half turn and grab Root when she felt her slipping. She was still conscious, but she didn't look great.

"Are we almost there?" Shaw asked over the roar of the rain.

Root nodded. "Yes, but we should walk from here." She slid off the horse before Shaw could stop her and managed to not fall over. Shaw got down as well and her feet sank deep into the mud.

"This way." Root led her horse off the road and into the tall grass. As Shaw stepped off the road she realized they were right near that same old mailbox she'd seen the day before. She'd forgotten about it somehow. Why were they back here?

Root kept walking through the fog and Shaw struggled to keep up, pushing her way through the high grass. She kept having the nagging feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else. Maybe she should go back and help Reese with the bureau now that Root was out of town. And what if the killer attacked them from the fog? They needed a defensible position.

"Root? I think I should head back."

Root turned around with a puzzled expression. Realization dawned on her face. "Here." She held out her free hand.

Shaw eyed it suspiciously and then gingerly took it. Root's skin was clammy but the second they touched the feeling of being in the wrong place vanished.

"What the hell," Shaw said quietly, looking around. "Is that caused by some sort of artifact?" She could now dimly remember her last attempt to explore the field and how she'd given up on it immediately without knowing why. Someone had gone to a lot of effort to get rid of unwelcome guests.

"Sort of," Root said. "Come on, we're almost there."

"Almost where?" It was an empty field even if she couldn't see most of it in the fog and rain now.

A few more steps and she walked through the edge of the fog bank and into a clear area. In front of her, right in the center of what she was sure was an empty field, was an enormous, ramshackled manor house with grey paint peeling from its wooden shingles and dark windows that rattled ominously in the storm. A massive tree with bare, bone-white branches hunched in the yard in front of it like a guardian.

"Home sweet home," Root said and started off towards the house. Shaw gaped for another moment and then followed.

Root led her to a small covered stall around the side of that house and Shaw waited under the awning while Root got Bacchanalia settled in.

"What is this place?"

"It's where I've been staying." Root shut the stall door behind her. "Let's get inside and then you can ask all your questions."

"Will you answer them?"

Root smirked and it lifted the exhaustion from her face for a second.

The sagging front porch made Shaw nervous that her foot would go right through the rotting wood, but despite some ominous creaking it held up long enough to get them inside. The interior smelled funky but at least it was dry. Shaw took her off coat and dumped it on the floor near the door. Her pack was damp but water resistant so she was hoping the contents were okay. She wanted to take her shoes off as well but this looked like the sort of place where nails could be sticking up from anywhere.

She was surprised that there was working electricity--partially working anyway. Dim lights flickered in the hall when Root flipped a switch on.

"If I'd known I was going to have company, I would have cleaned." It was a joke, but Shaw could see she was still in pain from the forced smile. "Give me a second and then we can go upstairs."

Root motioned for her to stay, but Shaw followed her anyway into what must have once been a kitchen. Everything was covered in dust and rain leaked in through a cracked window near a rusted sink. Root opened up a large cardboard box on the counter and pulled a water bottle out. Shaw watched in silence as she took two more pills.

The stairs up were more stable than the porch had been, but still a little creaky. Upstairs it was dark and didn't seem to have the lights that the downstairs had, but Shaw could pick out paintings that hung on the walls--dark and ominous forests on rotting canvas.

Root led the way down the hall to a wooden door and pushed it open with a screech of rusted hinges. The room on the other side was obviously where she'd been staying. There was clothing on a chair and the floor, a stack of books in the corner, and a lot of wires and pieces of gadgets scattered around the place. There was a space heater in one corner that looked like a fire waiting to happen and a sheet hung over the window. The mattress in the corner had sheets on it, but didn't look particularly comfortable. The most that could be said about the room was that it was drier than the rest of the house.

"How long have you been living here?"

"A few months. It's quite nice once you get used to it. Atmospheric."

"I'll pass on getting used to it." She looked Root over. Some of the evident pain was gone from her face and posture, but she still didn't look great. "I think it's time for you to let me take a look at whatever the hell happened to your back. Looked infected."

"It's not."

"Root…" she said in a warning tone. "Just take your shirt off and lie down, okay?"

If Shaw had ever doubted how bad Root felt, the lack of any type of innuendo at her order washed that away. Root unbuttoned her shirt reluctantly. Between the buttons and the lack of a bra, Shaw guessed she had chosen clothes that would make it easier for herself to avoid more pain. Shaw blinked a few times when Root started pulling her pants off as well.

"Uh…"

"I'm not lying down on my bed with wet jeans on."

That actually made sense. Shaw tried very hard not to think about the previous night now with Root almost completely naked in front of her. Fortunately Root wasn't trying to make a show out of things--she turned and sank down onto the mattress with a little sigh of relief, and any lecherous thoughts Shaw might have had fled when she finally got a clear look at Root's back.

From her shoulders down to the small of her back, Root's skin was covered with the most elaborate tattoo Shaw had ever seen. The overall shape of it was something like a circle with a massive tree stretched up through the middle of it, roots curving under the bottom edge of the circle and jagged, leafless branches jutting out of the top and sides. Vines and leaves curled around the circumference of the circle in the same black ink and looked so realistic Shaw almost expected them to spring to life. Inside the circle there was some type of language Shaw hadn't seen before looping around in ever smaller circles like tree rings. For a second she thought it was Morse code, all dots and lines, but it was definitely far more elaborate. The writing weaved in and out between the tree and vines and Shaw could swear it almost looked like it moved on its own.

The skin around the ink was bright red and it looked like the tattooed parts were raised like scar tissue. Shaw wondered if she'd be able to feel the pattern if she ran her fingers over it.

"What exactly am I looking at here?" she asked.

"You've never seen a tattoo before, Shaw?" There was a thread of apprehension in her mocking tone.

Shaw could clearly recall one occasion when Root had bitten the fuck out of the Marines tattoo on her forearm during some particularly rough sex, so she ignored the obvious deflection.

"It looks infected. You should probably be in a hospital." Did the town have anything resembling a hospital?

Root looked up at Shaw, her head cradled on her crossed arms. "It's not infected. It'll get better on its own in a few hours as long as I don't...aggravate it more. It always has before."

"Before," Shaw repeated. Her mind was racing trying to put together all the clues from the last few days. Root's presence here, the way she kept showing up and knowing things she couldn't possibly know, the murders, the detector, her comments about the fog, the mysterious house. There were still too many missing pieces, but there was something there, tugging at her mind. Something she'd seen….

The photos from the crime scenes. The summoning circles scratched in the dirt. They hadn't looked anything like the design on Root's back, but the base form of them was similar. And something else...something from a year ago. And before that from a slide on a projector in a dark auditorium. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"You're the warlock."

* * *

_She hadn't seen the warlock at Fairfield for that long--mostly she'd spent her time trying to keep a building between herself and it--but what she had seen hadn't been recognizable as human. It was as if a human-shaped hole had been punched in the world, a humanoid shadow creature made of void and fire._

_After, when she'd had time to think the whole thing through better, she'd wondered how the bureau had been so sure it had been a warlock before they'd killed it. After the military had finally taken it down, she'd seen the corpse left behind for a split second. Considering the army had used liquid nitrogen followed by napalm, she'd been shocked there'd even been a body left, even if it was mostly unrecognizable. The only thing she'd managed to register in her brief glimpse before the bureau covered the body, was the web of black tattoos down one bare leg._

* * *

Root stayed silent and that was more than enough proof for Shaw.

"Can you...the warlock in Fairfield, I mean...can you do that, too?" She found herself gripped by an unprecedented uncertainty. The warlock in Fairfield had left her convinced that the best way to deal with one of those things was to kill it as hard as possible and scorch the earth, but...this was Root.

Root propped herself up on her elbows with a pained grimace that Shaw's mind refused to juxtapose with the monster she'd fought the year before.

"Shaw, listen to me, okay? I didn't kill that farmer, or the sheep, or the fae."

"But you're the warlock?"

"I'm _a_ warlock."

"Oh." Shaw's brain rapidly spun through the implications of that. "Fuck. There's more of you?" She let out a long breath. "We're going to have to evacuate the town. Maybe a few towns."

"I can't do what the warlock in Fairfield did." Root slumped back down onto the bed. "I can explain, but I need to rest first. It hurts too much for me to think straight."

Shaw wanted to shake her and insist she tell her everything immediately, but rationally she knew that would just make things worse. If Root was going to answer questions, she needed to not be in pain. That was something Shaw could work with--a goal.

"I think I've got some cream with lidocaine in it in my kit." She knelt down to dig her medical kit out of her bag. "Will you tell me what type of painkillers you're taking now?"

"Vicodin, more or less. I didn't exactly get it from a reputable source. It's starting to kick in, I think."

"You're popping opioids like candy and you're still in this much pain? Hope you got something good out of this deal."

"You have no idea," Root said quietly.

Shaw found the tube of lidocaine in the bottom of her medkit. There wasn't a ton left, but hopefully it would be enough.

At the first touch of Shaw's fingers, a muffled cry of pain escaped Root despite her best effort to stifle it in the pillow. Root's skin felt fever hot under Shaw's fingers as she traced the pattern on her back, smearing white cream over black ink. She'd been right about the tattoo being raised, like it hadn't healed properly.

"Is it helping any?" she asked after she'd covered about a quarter of Root's back.

"I think so." The color had drained from Root's face, but she looked determined. "Are you going to turn me over to the bureau?"

Shaw traced a vine with her finger, fascinated by how detailed the design was. "Not right now, anyway. I'm not doing anything until you answer some questions."

"I suppose that's fair."

Shaw put the cap back on the tube of cream and dropped it back into her bag. "Don't suppose you have a working bathroom in the place?"

"Down the hall on the left. I wouldn't drink the water, though."

The bathroom must have been impressive once, with a polished tile floor and a huge metal tub with clawed feet, but now it was in as poor repair as the rest of the house. The tiles were cracked, the tub rusted, and the large window was boarded up. She could hear the rain beating down on the wood and cold drafts of wind came in through the cracks.

The sink made some alarming clanking and thumping noises before it spat out brownish water. Shaw waited for it to run clear before she risked washing her hands and was grateful for the bottle of hand soap that someone (Root, presumably) had left on the sink. The cold water did nothing to improve the fact she was shivering in her drenched clothes, and all distant hopes of a warm shower had been dashed when she'd seen the state of the bathroom, so she had to settle for changing into a dry shirt and underwear and hanging her jeans up. There was probably not much chance of them actually drying out before she had to go back, but at least they weren't on her anymore.

She wiped some of the grime off the cracked mirror to look at her face in the reflection. The cut above her eye was a startling red and she had dark circles under her eyes, probably from how poorly she'd been sleeping between the dreams and the middle of the night visit from Root. What had that even been about anyway?

She knew she should turn Root in now, no questions asked, but there were too many reasons not to: the mysteries that Root was the key to, the fact she didn't trust the bureau or the ISA, the still-missing original artifact that might be here, and also she just plain didn't want to. But she had no clue what she was going to do next.

The biggest problem she had was that she still knew so little about warlocks. No one really knew much about them, not even the unnaturals experts back at the bureau. They'd only had one briefing on warlocks and it had mostly been a presentation of things they didn't know. Because that was the problem with warlocks: you didn't get to study them or capture them, you just killed them as fast and thoroughly as you could before they killed everyone else.

* * *

_"This is the Ashford residence," the man in the boring suit at the front of the lecture hall said._

_Shaw looked attentively at the slide projected up on the screen which showed a black and white photo of a large Victorian house._

_"And this--" The projector clicked and changed slides. "--is what it looked like after the warlock."_

_The location of the second slide could only be matched to the location in the first because the three big trees on the side of the yard were still standing. The house was a pile of rubble and there was a crater around it in the dirt._

_"Daaamn," Shaw said under her breath. "That looks like it got hit by a meteor or something."_

_Next to her, Reese only grunted in acknowledgement and continued trying to rearrange the little folding desk on the chair so he'd stop hitting his knee on it._

_"Now the Ashford warlock, as we call him, is one of the better documented cases of warlocks we have today. That being said, we still have no clue as to his actual identity other than a few suspects among the people reported missing around that time."_

_"Why are they so sure it's a dude then?" Shaw whispered to Reese._

_"Because they found his arm."_

_The lecturer cleared his throat loudly and gave them a pointed look before continuing. "Now here you'll see the only piece of physical evidence recovered from the warlock."_

_The next slide showed what was definitely an arm, thick, severed at the elbow, and covered in dark hair._

_"Women can have thick, hairy arms, too," Shaw whispered._

_Reese stifled a laugh behind one hand. "So maybe it was a woman. You should point that out to the nice man."_

_The lecturer shot them another look and continued. "On the other side of the arm, they found this."_

_The projector clicked and showed the underside of the arm which had a tattoo on it that looked slightly familiar to Shaw. Definitely a demonic sigil of some sort, though she couldn't tell much more from the image._

_"Now no one knows exactly what the Ashford warlock was after. There's reason to believe that there was a powerful artifact in the house as the owner at the time, Victoria Ashford, was known to collect oddities. It's also unclear whether the damage was done by just the warlock or the warlock and artifact combined."_

_Shaw raised her hand which got a pained look from the lecturer. "Yes?"_

_"Why are you so sure that there was a warlock there then, and not just someone with an edgy tattoo?"_

_"At the time, no one suspected it was a warlock, but after further encounters with them in later years, we put the pieces together. The tattoo was actually the giveaway."_

_The lecturer changed the slides again to an image of four different symbols that all resembled demonic sigils or summoning circles except for the last one which Shaw didn't recognize. "These are some of the tattoos we've found on the known warlocks over the years. They all have one somewhere on their body to connect them to their patron, we believe, and, when tested, the substance used to dye the skin wasn't any known material from our world."_

_It was Reese's turn to raise his hand. "Are warlocks always linked to demons?"_

_"Not always, no. This last one here was working for an elemental."_

_"Well, fuck," Shaw muttered. Elementals were extremely dangerous and their only saving grace was they generally just wanted to be left alone. A pissed off one was bad news._

_"The warlock in this case died before they could cause much trouble. It seems that they weren't strong enough to channel all the elemental's powers and ended up drowning in a massive lake of their own making."_

_The lecturer looked back at them as if to see if they were planning to interrupt again and then continued. "Two of the warlocks we know of changed their form or appearance in some way due to their link with their patron. One of them had skin like stone and the other, the elemental one, had his body turned completely translucent. Rather unpleasant, I'd imagine."_

_"Too bad there's no pictures of that," Shaw whispered._

_Reese elbowed her into silence._

_"The others we only found pieces of, but the pieces still seemed to be fairly human. It's unclear why some might change and others not."_

_"They really don't know much, do they?" Shaw asked Reese._

_The lecturer glared at her and she realized she might have asked a little too loudly that time._

_"You're correct that there's still a lot of unknowns when it comes to warlocks," he said, irritably, "however, one thing is clear: when they do show up there is no warning and they bring massive amounts of death and destruction along with them. In some ways this is a blessing since it allows them to be noticed quite quickly." The lecturer deflated a little, annoyance worn off and replaced by something that looked like fear. "We must hope that we never have a warlock who is subtle and cunning or the entire world will be very much in danger. I fear there might by no way of stopping such a creature until it was already too late."_

* * *

Root hadn't moved when Shaw got back, but she hadn't fallen asleep either.

"Whose house is this?" Shaw asked.

"It's mine for right now."

Shaw watched the way Root's eyes swept up and down her body, taking in her shirt and boy shorts and her long, damp hair, hanging down and loose for once. Root was drugged up on more opioids than were probably safe and in a ton of pain and yet here she was, still checking Shaw out like it was her job.

"I hope you didn't take out a mortgage on this dump." She crouched down to examine the space heater in the corner. It didn't look particularly safe, but it was cold enough that Shaw decided to risk it. Better to burn the house down than have Root suggest they share body heat or something.

"No, it was a gift. Or a perk maybe."

Shaw turned the heat up halfway and then turned back to look at Root. She didn't look like she was in as much pain now at least.

"A perk. You mean your, uh, your patron gave you this deathtrap?"

"More or less."

"And just what is this patron of yours anyway? Some sort of big shot demon?"

The tiny smile that curled on Root's lips made the hairs on the back of Shaw's neck stand up.

"No, She's a god."


	5. Pieces of the Puzzle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is probably not as much explaining of things as you might have suspected in this chapter, but all in good time, and there's a lot of banging to make up for it. priorities.

"A god?" Shaw repeated, trying to wrap her mind around that.

"Surely they covered gods in supernatural spy school, Shaw." Root tried to leverage herself up enough to look over her shoulder at her back and winced.

"Stop moving," Shaw scolded, only half paying attention.

They had indeed covered gods in the briefings at the ISA, but what people called gods were so rarely encountered that it'd only been the one lecture and half a page of documentation. The first thing they'd been told was that gods weren't _actually_ gods, but, much like demons, were a type of unnatural from another plane that fit into myths and concepts of gods in enough ways that people had decided that's what they were and the name had stuck.

There had been few known encounters with them in history, but enough that a vague set of descriptions and abilities had been collated. Gods were massive, but intangible. They were generally transparent or translucent--several accounts describing them as only visible through sporadic iridescent shimmers outlining their larger form--but could interact with physical objects on this world to at least some degree. Reports of their powers varied widely, but some of the more common ones reported were telekinesis, electromagnetic disturbances, creation of force fields of some type, electric discharge, and partial control of the weather. There were a mess of supposed powers with very little proof of any of them.

The ISA had a hefty bounty out for anyone who could help track down one of these gods, but to Shaw's knowledge no one had ever come forward to claim it. Gods remained an enigma even to the bureau and Shaw had almost forgotten they existed.

"How did you even find a god?" she asked finally. She doubted the detector could pick one up which might be why it had registered so much energy here the first day with no type. The same could be said of the crime scenes, of course, but Shaw had never heard of a god killing a human and definitely not ripping one to pieces. Though that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

"I'd been looking for one for quite some time, but in the end, She found me."

"She. Gods have genders?" There were still a lot of people who insisted on trying to gender all the unnaturals from other planes, but most people who dealt with them professionally had long since given up. Not only did most unnaturals not have genders or concepts of gender that mirrored humanity's in any coherent way, but several types of unnaturals got very offended by the entire notion.

"She's been on earth a long, long time, and I think She started to pick up some of our cultural ideas and identities. Possibly out of boredom."

"A bored god." Shaw had hoped Root would answer all her outstanding questions, but so far she'd just added to the pile. "Uh, how did she find you?"

"She sent me a letter."

Shaw shoved the pile of clothes off the sole chair in the room and sat down. "I'm not even going to ask how she managed that. How is she involved in everything that's going on in this place?"

"That's com--"

"And if you even think about saying that it's complicated, I will beat your ass."

A wicked grin spread across Root's face. "Is that a promise?"

Shaw just stared at her coldly, hoping it would get through to Root that this was serious discussion time and not flirting time. Root's expression didn't budge, but she did shift ever so slightly on the mattress, drawing Shaw's eyes down the length of her body. Shaw turned away to watch the flame in the lantern flicker instead.

"She's trapped in this area," Root said at last. "She's never hurt anyone and She has no desire to, but there's some who want to find Her for less than pleasant reasons."

"The other warlock. Warlocks?"

"There's only one other that I'm aware of." There was a slight rustling of the sheets.

"And why would they want to hurt some god who's trapped out in the middle of nowhere?" She risked a look back at Root and instantly regretted it. Root had managed to roll over on her side, giving Shaw a full view of her front, naked except for her underwear.

"Do you know what artifacts are, Shaw? What they really are?"

"I need answers, not more questions." She should have turned away again by now, but her eyes were lingering without her permission.

"The answers to all the questions are connected," Root promised, "but it's not my secret to tell."

"And why's that?"

"Because if I told you, you might do something inadvisable and get yourself killed and I rather like having you alive."

Shaw tried not to fall victim to her own frustration. Root loved being cryptic and the more Shaw pressed her, the more she'd dance around the truth. Root wouldn't tell her a damn thing until she wanted to.

"Okay, how about the tattoo then? Why is it all red and gross?"

Root bit her lip, a simple movement that Shaw shouldn't have found so distracting. Root's late night visit definitely hadn't fully scratched Shaw's itch. If anything she was even more susceptible to Root's annoying little flirtations now that she could vividly remember what it felt like to have Root coming around her fingers.

"That's compli...it's difficult to explain," Root said, as if she was unaware of the effect she was having on Shaw. "But let's just say that the connection between Her and me is a bit precarious. It's difficult for me to channel Her powers right now and there are some...side effects."

"That's a hell of a side effect."

Root didn't look nearly as concerned as Shaw thought she should have.

"The irritation should be gone soon. I can feel it dissipating." Root settled back onto her stomach. "I'm grateful to you for helping me back here, but you could safely leave now if you wanted."

With the bureau back in town and a warlock on the loose, Shaw knew she should head back soon--Reese would need her help and Carter had hired them to sort this thing out. And yet she was positive that the answers she needed to understand what was happening back in town were here with Root. She just had to figure out enough of the mystery to pry the rest out of Root.

"I'll stay for now. At least until it stops raining." She hadn't heard rain hitting the window for the last few minutes, but Root didn't seem inclined to bring that up.

"In that case, I think I'm going to take a nap," Root said. "You're free to explore the house if you want, though be careful. Some of the floors aren't that stable anymore. Or, if you'd rather, you could stay here and watch me sleep." The teasing grin was back.

"As exciting as watching you drool on your pillow sounds, I think I'll pass." Shaw pulled on an oversized sweatshirt and her boots and got up to leave. She hesitated. "You want a blanket?" It was quite cold even with the little space heater.

"No need, but thanks for asking." The thank you sounded sincere so Shaw just nodded and left to go explore.

She started with the ground floor. The kitchen they'd gone to earlier didn't have much more to offer: broken plates and glasses in a few cabinets, and an impressive collection of canned food that looked recent enough that it must have been Root's. Several of the other rooms were empty, stripped of any sign of prior function, or left only with a few broken chairs. There was, however, an enormous dining room with a magnificent long oak table that looked like it had weathered the years well by comparison. Less than half the chairs at it remained intact and what must have been a side table along the wall was now kindling. Overhead a dusty chandelier creaked back and forth precariously, moved by some draft Shaw couldn't trace.

Down at the end of a particularly dark hallway were a set of stone steps leading down, but the heavy wood door at the bottom was securely locked and didn't budge when Shaw pushed at it with her shoulder. She considered getting her shockwave glove and blowing it off its hinges, but there probably wasn't anything down there but more broken tables and rats and that sort of force might bring down the whole house.

After determining that the first floor was completely useless, Shaw headed back up the unstable stairs to the second floor. She started at the far end of the hall that Root's room was on. The bathroom she'd already seen, but the other two doors were unexplored. The first proved to be a bedroom, far larger than the room Root had been staying in. There was a giant, rusted metal bed frame in the middle of the floor and a mostly intact wardrobe and dresser along one wall. The carpet must have been very fancy once, but it was mostly rotted and worn now.

Inside the wardrobe was nothing but a few empty wood hangers. A flash of light caught Shaw's eye and she opened the doors further to find a small mirror on the back of one. There was an ancient, yellowed photo attached to it that upon inspection was a photo of the house she now stood in, but in much better shape than it was now. There was a child sitting in the grass in front of the house, but they were too small to make out any real details of.

The dresser was completely empty and Shaw was becoming more and more convinced that this place hadn't merely been looted, but stripped of all its identifying possessions quite deliberately.

The other door in the hall was another bedroom, even more unremarkable than the last. Shaw made a quick stop in the bathroom to wash off some of the dirt from her hands before continuing. She paused to look in the door of Root's room as she passed. Root was sound asleep on her mattress, her breathing deep and even. Shaw tiptoed in to grab something out of her pack and snuck a look at Root's back. Root might have been right about it healing on its own because the redness and swelling had gone down a lot since Shaw had left her. At the rate it was improving it would be back to normal in no time--whatever normal meant in these circumstances.

Back out in the hall, she headed to the top of the stairs and past them down the hall in the other direction. This was a short hall with only two doors, one on the right and one at the end. The one on the right hid a narrow staircase leading up that looked too decrepit to risk climbing. The large door at the end of the hall opened into a huge room that made Shaw stop short.

The most noticeable thing about the room was that a branch from the massive tree out front had broken through the wall up by the ceiling and grown across the room. There was a very strong, cold draft due to the hole in the wall and ceiling and dead leaves rustled across the wood floors and gathered around the feet of a dusty grand piano. Bookshelves lined several walls, though all the books were ruined beyond use or gone, and several ornate benches were rotting in corners. It must have been some sort of gathering room and library once, full of light and music, but now it was dark and eerie.

Shaw walked over to the piano and pushed open the cover over the keys. It looked intact enough, though the noises that came out of it when she pressed a few keys down were discordant. The piano bench also seemed surprisingly intact, possibly made out of a sturdier wood than much of the other furniture had been. Shaw dusted it off with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and sat on it. She pulled out the metal disk that Reese had given her, and unwrapped it from the protective cloth she'd stored it in.

"Are you here?" she asked quietly. And then, feeling foolish, she added, "Grim?"

The leaves on the floor rustled and then the large black dog appeared, standing on the floor a few feet away.

"Hey, boy," Shaw called, glad that Reese had insisted she take the disk. This place was creepy, but Grim's calm presence let her know there was nothing immediately dangerous around.

At first she thought her eyes were fooling her in the overcast light that came in through the hole in the ceiling, but as Grim walked closer to her, she could see they weren't. Faint blue glowing circles and lines ran all over his black coat. She'd never seen anything like it before, and definitely not on Grim.

"What's this all about then?" she asked him as she ran her hands through his fur. The lines didn't move with his fur, but stayed in place almost like they were projected there. She felt nothing when her hand passed through them. "Are you trying to tell me something or is this just another weird side effect of this place?"

Grim only looked at her silently.

"You don't know what artifacts actually are, do you, boy?" She wasn't expecting an answer, but maybe talking it through out loud might help. "No one knows exactly what the original artifacts are, which I always thought was weird. They're definitely something that was crafted, so either everyone who knew how to craft them died without leaving any records, or they were crafted by something from another plane."

The first original artifact that she knew of had been discovered--or rediscovered--only eighty years ago and then more and more kept popping up. Shaw wasn't sure how many there were total, but the vast majority were in the hands of the bureau under lock and key. It had only been about thirty years ago that someone had discovered how to make less powerful, infused artifacts from the original ones, which granted a fraction of the power and ability of the originals and were almost immediately weaponized. The ISA, which had until then been in charge of quietly handling any covert armed responses to hostile unnaturals, had their duties expanded to hunting down rogue wielders of infused artifacts, or fusers as they'd come to be called colloquially.

But even in the briefings and lectures at the ISA no one had ever offered an explanation of what the artifacts really were, what made them and powered them. She knew it was something Root had been looking into back when they'd last worked together.

"Did she find out?" she asked Grim. "Did it have something to do with this house and this god she has a pact with?"

Grim tilted his head slightly and pressed his nose into her hand until she went back to petting him.

"Why would someone choose this shitty town to trap a god?" she wondered aloud. She felt like she was close to some breakthrough, that she had all the pieces of the puzzle in her hands but couldn't quite fit them together.

"Well, isn't this picturesque."

Shaw looked up to find Root standing in the doorway watching her. She'd put on a shirt but nothing else, not even shoes much to Shaw's horror.

"If you get tetanus I'm not helping you."

Root pushed off the door and picked her way across the floor towards Shaw. "You say the sweetest things."

Shaw only had a moment to prepare before Root had placed one knee on either side of her legs on the bench and sat down on her lap. She leaned back to make room and her elbows landed on the keys of the piano, making jarring out-of-tune chords echo through the room. Grim seemed to have vanished again and she couldn't blame him.

"Maybe we should take this back to--"

Root cut her off by leaning down to kiss her, her teeth scraping across Shaw's lower lip.

* * *

* * *

"Take this off." Root tugged at her sweatshirt and Shaw yanked it off over her head and tossed it aside. Root hummed in approval and ran her hands down Shaw's bare arms. Her fingers were ice cold and Shaw realized she must have just washed up in the bathroom since all traces of her makeup were gone as well.

Root brushed her thumbs along Shaw's cheekbones and traced the line of her jaw with her other fingers, staring at her with an almost-predatory hunger in her eyes.

The staring went on as little too long for Shaw's taste and she put an end to it by surging up to kiss her again. Root grabbed at Shaw's shoulders to keep her balance and Shaw's elbows thudded back onto the piano with a jangle of keys. Shaw broke away from the kiss and tugged on Root's shirt.

"Off."

Root's shirt joined Shaw's sweatshirt on the ground and Shaw raked her eyes over Root's bare skin. The whole piano bench thing was clearly a disaster waiting to happen but at the moment she didn't have a single fuck to give about that because the only thing that mattered was that she could now lean forward and get her mouth on Root's breasts. She nipped sharply at one and then soothed it with a stroke of her tongue while Root's fingers wound their way into her hair to pull her closer. The piano bench wobbled ominously when she shifted her weight to leaning on only one elbow so her free hand could circle around Root and squeeze her butt while pulling her closer.

They both struggled to rearrange without tipping over when Root shoved a hand down between them and into Shaw's boy shorts, and Shaw's head fell back and smacked the music stand on the piano at the first touch of Root's fingers.

"Fuck," Shaw stuttered out. "Your fingers are fucking freezing."

Root grinned at her. "I know." She winked and pushed into Shaw with two of her icicle fingers and nodded in satisfaction at the drawn-out moan it ripped out of her. The angle wasn't great due to their lack of room to maneuver, but it almost didn't matter because fuck did it feel good. Root rocked into her, using her hips to drive her fingers in harder and Shaw just laid back and enjoyed the ride, her fingers squeezing one of Root's butt cheeks hard enough that she'd have bruises the next day.

"Bet you're glad you didn't go back to town now," Root teased, her entire face radiating smugness that made Shaw want to shove her on her back and let her put her mouth to better use.

"I guess you're doing alright under the circumstances," Shaw managed to get out between panting breaths.

Root's eyes narrowed and Shaw had only a second of warning before she leaned in and bit the fuck out of the side of her neck.

"Ow, fuck!" It felt really damn good though, better than good. Her hand crept up Root's back to tug her closer, her fingers tracing over the raised lines of...fuck. Between Root's fingers driving her crazy and the fucking chunk Root was trying to bite out of her neck she'd forgotten all about the damn tattoo.

Root pulled back from her neck with a strangled noise and her fingers stilled for a moment. Shaw carefully moved her hand back down to safer territory.

"You okay? Forgot about that whole tattoo thing."

The look on Root's face wasn't pain, though. Her lids were heavy over her dark eyes, her lips slightly parted, and her cheeks flushed.

"Do it again," Root demanded, her voice thick and rough.

Shaw gingerly brushed a finger along the lowest part of Root's tattoo that she could feel and watched in fascination as Root's whole body shuddered and her face went slack with pleasure.

"If it's still all irritated I probably shouldn't be poking at it," she murmured even as she slid a finger along one of the curves of the circle and watched Root's stomach muscles tremble.

"It's...it's not, ah, irritated anymore." Root opened her eyes and looked back down at Shaw. "It's fine now, I promise. It just feels really intense."

"Yeah, I can see that." Shaw ghosted all her fingers lightly over the middle of Root's back making her cry out and get a death grip on Shaw's shoulder. The bench creaked in warning under them and Shaw returned her hand to Root's butt. "Finish what you started and then we can go back to your room and take another crack at this part," Shaw said. "If this bench falls apart, neither of us is going to get off."

Root nodded, her face still slack with pleasure. She took a deep breath and then her fingers resumed their activities between Shaw's legs with an added level of force that made Shaw grab onto the piano for dear life. Root nudged her way along Shaw's cheek with her nose until she could capture her earlobe between her teeth and bite it just enough to sting sweetly. The sound of Root's shaky breaths in her ear gave Shaw the final little push over the edge and her body spasmed and shook around Root's skilled fingers.

* * *

* * *

Root stayed sitting in her lap while she caught her breath, and pushed a couple locks of hair back off Shaw's sweaty face. There was a bit too much intensity in her heavy gaze for Shaw (even if it did seem to all be pure lust), and she looked away past her into the room.

"Root, look." Shaw tapped her on the leg until she reluctantly stood up to look.

In the corner with the tree, snow was drifting gently through the hole in the ceiling. It wasn't sticking yet, but the rate at which it was falling suggested that would soon change.

Shaw got up, rearranged her clothes, and walked across the wood floor towards the snowfall.

"I'm amazed this whole side of the house hasn't fallen down already," she said when she got as close as she felt she could safely. The floor definitely did not look stable here. "What is this place anyway? I found a picture of it from years ago, but nothing else."

"A prison of sorts. Or a house for the jailers, more accurately." Root stepped up next to her, pulling her shirt back over her head. "They all died a long time ago and left this place to rot." She flipped her hair out of her collar. "What little they left behind I spent my first week here getting rid of. I was trying to erase them, I suppose, but I must have missed a picture."

Shaw could imagine Root gleefully lighting a bonfire and destroying the last traces of whoever it was who'd lived here. "Is this god of yours responsible for the spell that keeps people away and the one that makes the whole house invisible?"

"Yes, She thought it best if She was forgotten."

"Then what does she need you for?"

"The wrong people remembered Her." Root stepped forwards and held out her hand to let the snowflakes land on it. Shaw eyed the floor suspiciously, ready to pull her back if necessary. Root always had been damned reckless even in situations where there was no need to be, like now when she took another step forward so she could stretch up and run her fingers along the side of one of the bone white branches of the tree.

"It's freezing here," Shaw pointed out. "Let's head back to your room."

Root reluctantly turned away from the snow and followed Shaw back across the room. Shaw retrieved her sweatshirt and Grim's disk from the floor (with a silent apology to Grim) before she headed for the hall, Root trailing behind her silently. After the freezing cold piano room, Root's room felt like a sauna, even if the little space heater was barely strong enough to warm the place up.

"Take your shirt off. I want to check your back again."

Root arched one eyebrow. "Is that what we're calling it now? Of course, doctor." She tugged the shirt over her head, lay down on the mattress again, and swept her hair to one side so Shaw could see her full back.

Shaw sat down on the edge of the mattress next to her and tried to keep her mind strictly to medical issues for a second. The tattoo didn't look red or infected at all anymore, just like Root had said it wouldn't. It still didn't look quite like a regular tattoo though as the ink seemed to shift and move under her skin. Shaw ran a finger over one of the vines and yeah it was still raised. The noise her light touch pulled from Root was extremely distracting, as was the way Root shifted on the mattress, her hips grinding down.

"Does it always feel like that when something touches it?" Shaw asked curiously.

"Definitely not. Earlier it just hurt. It feels really...intense whenever I touch it myself, but inanimate objects don't have much of an effect. And from the little bit of experimenting I've done, the result depends largely on the context."

Shaw took a second to translate that. "You mean it only felt sexual because we were fucking."

"Because I was turned on, yes."

Which meant she still was, though that wasn't exactly news to Shaw. There was also the unspoken implication that Root had tried this before at some point, maybe touched her tattoo while she touched herself somewhere else. It was a little weird, but maybe not necessarily that much different from someone using a toy to simulate themselves. Except for the part where it linked her to a god….

"Uh, this god you're working for, does she...I mean, can she feel it when you…."

Root looked back over her shoulder and smirked. "If She wants to. She can even lend a hand, so to speak, but She'll stay out of it if you want Her to."

"Uh, yeah, that's...yeah." It was slightly too much for her to wrap her head around just now, especially since there were other things she'd rather be thinking about, like the way Root was pressing her thighs together and grinding her hips into the mattress.

Shaw reached over and drew her fingertips down Root's back from her neck to waist in one smooth motion. She'd expected a reaction, but not the way it made Root cry out and writhe against the mattress. Root's fingers dug into the blankets on either side of her and her breath came out in short, harsh pants.

"What does it feel like?" Shaw asked as she traced some of the writing with one fingertip.

"It feels like--" Root broke off to claw at the blankets again, her hips bucking into the mattress. Shaw took her hand away to let her finish. "It feels like there's nerve endings getting simulated everywhere, all over my entire body."

"Stimulated in a good way?" Shaw teased her back with one finger again.

"Yes, definitely in a good way." Root looked back over her shoulder at her again, face flushed and eyes wild and desperate. "What are you waiting for?"

* * *

* * *

It was Shaw's turn to smirk. "I'm just giving you a check up, you know, as your doctor. Strictly professional."

Root's eyes narrowed and Shaw could see her weighing her options. Root swallowed and licked her lips.

"Please," she said, and it sounded like the word had been dragged from her by force.

Shaw made her wait for another five seconds before she finally nodded. "Sit up and lose the underwear."

Root scrambled up and Shaw sat back far enough that she could pull her own shirt off. She knew exactly how she wanted this to go. When she looked back, Root was sitting back on her heels on the mattress, completely naked. It was, Shaw realized, the first time she'd seen her fully naked in over a year. Fair was fair, though, and she hooked a finger in the waist of her boy shorts and pulled them down her legs, enjoying the way Root's eyes trailed over her as she did.

"Turn sideways," she said.

Root's eyes widened as she figured out what Shaw had in mind, and she turned to face the back wall of the room. Shaw stepped onto the mattress behind her and knelt, leaving a little space between them still.

"Have you had sex with anyone since you got this thing?" Shaw asked. "None of my business, but if you knew anything that wouldn't feel good…."

"No one but myself. And Her, of course." Root's voice was a little shaky, excited. Like she thought she knew what Shaw was going to do next and she could barely wait.

Except she didn't actually know, because instead of pressing herself against Root's back, Shaw leaned forward and licked a hot line right up Root's spine. Root's entire body bucked and she caught herself with her hands on her knees.

"Holy fuck," she breathed out.

"Don't know about the holy part." Shaw experimentally drew one nail down Root's back, much lighter than she normally would have. Root's breath came out in a ragged shudder and Shaw could see where her nails were digging into her own legs. She went again with all five fingers this time, dragging her nails hard enough to leave red scratches woven into the lines on Root's back.

"Oh, fuck." Root's voice was quiet, but desperate and her cursing turned into a full-throated moan when Shaw traced one of the scratches she'd left with her tongue. Shaw couldn't ever remember hearing her curse this much before. "Shaw, I'm not going to last much longer like this."

"I haven't even touched you yet." And she very much wanted to. "Fine, but don't you dare come right away."

Root laughed and it sounded a little unhinged. "I'll do my best."

Shaw closed the distance between them and pressed her naked body up against Root's back. Root's skin felt hot against her and she could swear she felt the tattoo burning into her breasts and stomach like a brand. Root's whole body thrummed with tension, but other than a soft whine she didn't twitch. Shaw curled her arms around Root and ran her fingers along her thighs. "Spread a little wider."

Root awkwardly shuffled her legs a little further apart. Shaw could feel her heaving breaths through where they were pressed together. She wrapped one arm around Root's waist to hold her in place and let her other hand drag slowly up Root's thigh and finally, finally touch her. Root was drenched and swollen under her fingers, so wet that Shaw's breath hitched as she mapped out the shape of her with her fingers.

"All this from a few minutes of me touching your back?" Shaw murmured into the side of Root's neck. Her fingers moved lower and she pushed into Root just a little with one of them.

"More," Root breathed out, her voice raspy. "Please, Shaw."

The unprompted 'please' gave Shaw a thrill of satisfaction and she pressed a harsh kiss to the side of Root's neck in reward. "How much more?" Her fingers toyed with Root, never touching quite long enough, and her arm around Root's stomach kept Root from pressing into her. Root seemed beyond answering, though, and Shaw took pity on her. Root was open and wet enough that Shaw might have suggested fisting if they'd had some lube and if Root wasn't so strung out. But for now, she slid into her with two fingers--nice and slow so Root could feel every second of it--and then added a third and fuck did that feel incredible. Root was hot and wet around her fingers and even the slightest of movements made her cry out and roll her hips into Shaw's fingers. There was no way Root was going to last nearly as long as Shaw had hoped for, but she figured she could still make the best of it. She fucked Root slow but hard, with the force of her arm behind each thrust, and, when she curled her fingers, Root fell apart, clenching around Shaw's fingers and scratching bloody lines on her own legs as she rode it out. Shaw held her firmly in place as her whole body shook and she could swear she felt Root's tattoo burning into her skin.

Root softened afterwards and slumped back into Shaw, her eyes shut and her breathing still wild and erratic. Shaw held her in the curve of her body while she recovered and tried not to think too hard about how she was holding someone almost gently after fucking them which was not a thing she did ever.

Root recovered enough after a few minutes to squirm away and collapse onto the mattress on her stomach, still breathing hard. Shaw looked down at herself--half-expecting to see burns in the shape of Root's tattoo--and then over at Root's back. The perception that Root's tattoo was flowing, like blood rushing through veins, was almost undeniable now. It looked alive on her skin. Shaw wanted to touch it to see if she could feel the movement, but she stopped herself. Probably best to let Root be while she recovered.

* * *

* * *

The silence in the room was punctuated only by Root's uneven breathing and the whir of the little space heater in the corner. Shaw got to her feet, walked over to the window, and twitched the sheet aside enough to see outside. The snow was sticking now, accumulating rapidly even in the tall grassy field.

"We're going to get snowed in if we stay here," Shaw said over her shoulder. "I should get back to town."

The blankets rustled. "Stay here tonight. It'll be safer to go back tomorrow."

"Reese expects me back and there's still this other warlock murdering people, remember?"

"She says that Reese will be fine and that it's better if you stay away for one more night."

Shaw looked back to find Root sitting upright, the sheets wrapped around her waist. "Your god knows all that?"

"She does. And if you stay you can ask me more questions. I know you still have a lot."

Shaw let the curtain drop back into place and turned around. "Would you actually answer any of them?"

"I'll try." Root sounded sincere for once. "Please, Sameen?"

Shaw sighed, disgusted with herself. The idea of putting on wet jeans and trudging back through a snowstorm wasn't appealing, but if it had been necessary she'd have done it immediately. But Root sitting there staring at her with big, sad eyes while still looking like she'd just been thoroughly fucked was having more of an effect on her than expected.

"Fine, but you'd better have something to eat around this place."


	6. The Elemental

The canned food situation in Root's rundown mansion was almost enough to send Shaw back into town, snow or no snow. She'd been enjoying the fresh, homemade meals from Doris every day, and canned fruit wasn't an acceptable substitute.

"There's no refrigerator or microwave," Root said defensively. "I suppose there are a few things I could cook that don't need to be kept cold first, but then I'd have the added risk of burning the house down."

"This sucks." Shaw looked into her can of fruit and imagined a nice, juicy steak, fresh off the grill with some creamy mashed potatoes on the side and maybe one single acceptably small vegetable of some sort that could easily be ignored. "If you're the favorite of some otherworldly god, shouldn't you be living in style?"

"Being a warlock isn't as glamorous as you imagined."

"Glamorous." Shaw thought back to Fairfield. "No, definitely not what I'd call it."

A gloomy silence settled between them. They'd both retreated back to Root's room after acquiring some canned goods from the kitchen. The entire house was freezing other than this one room, which was still cold, but at least they wouldn't freeze to death. Shaw had chosen to sit near the space heater and Root had climbed back on her mattress and wrapped the blankets around herself. She'd been nice enough to offer Shaw her only pair of sweatpants since Shaw's jeans were still damp (Shaw had brought them into the bedroom and draped them over a chair near the space heater in the hopes of them drying overnight) and had cocooned herself with blankets instead. Shaw had expected her to be smug since she'd gotten everything she'd wanted, but Root just looked tired. She'd run herself ragged as long as Shaw had known her, but this was different. This was long-term exhaustion. Root must have had quite the year.

"What happened to you back in Fairfield?" she asked. "After we got separated, I mean." She still had a very clear memory of the house they'd been standing near getting levelled in a fiery explosion. She'd seen the piece of rebar hit Root and send her flying and then she'd lost track of her due to being half-buried under a pile of debris herself with a warlock breathing down her neck.

Root made a face and set her can aside as if the question had taken away her appetite. "Something hit me on the head when the building collapsed and when I woke up I was in the tender care of our good friends at the Unnatural Affairs and Relations Bureau."

Shaw felt like someone had dropped an ice cube down her spine. "I didn't...they didn't tell me." Not that they should have known she had any connection to Root, but the capture of an unlicensed fuser on the scene of the warlock rampage was the sort of thing Shaw would have expected to have heard about. Of course she'd been actively voicing her discontent by around that time so maybe they'd held it back from her.

"I know you had nothing to do with it, and I'd suspected they wouldn't tell you." Root toyed with her fork, rocking the can on the floor back and forth. "They knew we'd worked together and that we were...involved, though not any details. It was one of the ways they tried to motivate me to give them what they wanted."

Shaw very carefully put her can down on the floor. She could have been extremely angry right then if she'd chosen to--the potential was more than there--but it served no purpose yet. She'd hold onto the anger until later when she could do something constructive with it. Like when she got back to town and ran into the bureau members who'd been sent there. Preferably ran into them with her fist.

She looked up to find Root watching her closely, face carefully blank.

"What did the bureau want from you?"

"Oh, you know, the ability to detect original artifacts, something that would let them control unnaturals, a few other impossible things like that." Root shrugged. "It took a while to convince them that it's impossible to make something that detects original artifacts."

Shaw was aware of some of the bureau's methods of convincing people. She wanted to ask, but something in Root's expression told her not to.

"How'd you get away?"

"Honestly? I think they let me escape so they could follow me. It took forever to shake all the tails they had shadowing me, even after I got rid of their silly little tracking device." She poked one leg out from the nest of blankets to show off a twisted scar on the outside of her ankle. Shaw sat up and forward onto her hands and knees so she could examine it a little closer. She ran a finger along the scar and shook her head in disgust.

"You've gotta let me show you how to put stitches in someday. And maybe how to do field surgery on yourself, too. This looks like a five year old with a bread knife operated on you."

That got a faint smile out of Root and Shaw felt proud of herself.

"What about the other bit?" Shaw asked as she sat back against the wall again. "Controlling unnaturals. Is that possible?"

"That's like asking if you can make something that can control every species of animal on the planet. You need a different strategy for each type, tailored to their characteristics." Root hesitated and then added, "And it's not what they were actually after."

Shaw waited, trying to be patient. Root was talking now but the fastest way to get her to stop would be to probe too much and have her go all cryptic again.

"Did you ever wonder why the bureau didn't send more forces to Fairfield?" Root asked.

"Word was they had intel the warlock was headed elsewhere. That sort of thing was above my pay grade." It had rankled her that they'd seemingly ignored the obvious trajectory the warlock would take, and that they never acknowledged that it had cost them an entire town.

"There was no intel," Root said firmly. "They knew it was headed to Fairfield and they cleared the way for it."

There were too many bombshells being dropped in one conversation for Shaw to sort through at once. "I'm not going to argue that they wouldn't bat an eye at that many civilian deaths, but what did they get out of it?"

Root retreated further into her blanket cocoon. "What they got out of it was an impressive demonstration of the level of destruction a warlock was capable of."

Shaw was about to press for a fuller answer, but she realized Root had already pointed her in the right direction. If it hadn't been unnaturals the bureau had ultimately wanted to control, then…. "Oh. Shit."

"Imagine having a pet warlock on call, an undetectable living weapon able to level a town in minutes." Root's smile was bitter. "But they needed a way to control them first."

"And is that possible?"

"It's not that simple a question. The connection between a warlock and their patron is...complicated, and it varies based on the pact that's made. Some warlocks wouldn't be able to use their patron's power without explicit permission. Some have more freedom. Even if you control the warlock, you don't necessarily control their power."

Shaw could see how that might be a roadblock to the bureau having their very own walking bomb. "And I'm guessing the patron could revoke their pact at any time if they weren't getting what they wanted out of the deal?"

"Actually, no. Most pacts are impossible to break short of the death of either the warlock or the patron. It's one of the reasons there's been so few warlocks, I suspect."

"And what about you? How does all--" Shaw gestured at her back. "--that work?"

Root fell silent and Shaw figured she'd finally pushed too much. There was one large question that needed answering though. "The other warlock that's here, is it connected to the bureau?"

"I don't know for sure, but it's certainly possible, especially since they haven't turned the town into a smoking crater."

There were still a lot of missing pieces to fill in, most notably what the warlock wanted here, but at least Shaw had finally gotten some answers, even if they had only been about things from the past.

"If I find the warlock and kill them, this whole thing goes away, right? The bureau would have no reason to stick around and the town would be safe and you could just stay out here in your shitty house and commune with your god buddy or whatever."

Root sighed. "I don't think it's that easy."

"Killing a warlock is easy now?" She could still remember the jet racing over Fairfield and the line of fire leaping from the ground in its wake.

"No, but...She's not sure, but She thinks there's someone or something else involved. Someone we don't know about yet who's pulling all the strings. Without finding out who they are and what they want this might not end."

"Ugh." Shaw dropped her head forwards onto her knees. "I don't suppose you have any alcohol in this place?" She needed several stiff drinks after all this bullshit.

"Afraid not. Just the bottled water."

Shaw got up off the floor and stretched away the stiffness in her back. After hearing all of that, all she wanted was to go back to town and find somebody whose ass she could kick. The list of possible targets had grown considerably in the last half hour. What the bureau had done to Root...and the fact they'd tried to use Shaw as leverage…. She wasn't about to let that stand.

She pulled the curtain to one side again to check outside. The snow was still falling, though not as heavily as before, and the sky was starting to get dark as night fell.

"Don't suppose they have snow plows here, do they?" she asked.

"They don't have much of anything here."

"I noticed. Who even thought this place was a good idea? I've seen communities that live off the grid and all, but this isn't that."

When Root didn't answer, she turned back around to find her staring at the floor, a frown on her face.

"Think you'll be able to give me a ride tomorrow?" Shaw asked, knowing full well she was probably asking for some suggestive innuendo at the very least. Leering, pervy Root would have been strangely reassuring compared to quiet, distant Root.

"I can get you close to town, but you'll be on your own for the last part. I'd rather not let the bureau know I'm here for as long as possible."

Really? Nothing? She turned to take one last look at the snow and then let the curtain fall back into place. She was aware that this was probably the time someone else might have been able to say something to help with whatever the fuck it was that was weighing on Root, but she was drawing a blank. If Root had been injured that would have been easy to help with, and while she didn't think for a second that Root would turn down more sex, she didn't think it would help either. Hell, she didn't even know exactly what was bothering Root so how was she supposed to fix it?

A thought struck her and she rummaged around in the pile of clothing on the floor until she found the metal disk. She held it between her fingers and silently called for Grim the way she had earlier.

"What's your guard dog here for?" Root asked.

Shaw looked up to find Grim sitting by the door, watching her. He still had those weird blue circles floating on his fur for some reason.

Reese swore the dog could read minds, or read intents anyway, but Shaw had always felt too silly to try. Until now. She met his dark eyes and tried to silently communicate what she wanted and for a second she thought she saw a flash of understanding there. Maybe she'd only imagined it, but the results were indisputable. Grim got up and trotted over to where Root was and sat down next to her.

"What does he want?" Root asked. She held out a hand to let Grim sniff her.

"Probably begging to be petted. He's always trying to con people into that," Shaw lied, silently apologizing to Grim for the slander.

The ruse worked though because Root soon had both hands buried in Grim's ruff and the morose expression on her face had vanished.

"Did you know he's from the same plane as the gods?" Root asked.

"Uh, no? Really?" Shaw looked doubtfully at Grim. He was clearly the best dog ever and surprisingly powerful, but a god? "I guess god is dog spelled backwards."

Root laughed quietly. "Well, he's not the same, hmm, species is the closest word we have, but he's from the same place. She's seen him before. It's impressive that you and John managed to catch his interest."

"Reese's doing. I could never get the damn thing to work."

"May I see it?" Root disengaged one hand from Grim's fur and held it out. Shaw hesitated a moment and then passed it over.

"Thank you." Root turned it over in her hands. "Most artifacts work based on intent, you know, and this one is no different."

"You saying I didn't actually want to summon a cool dog?" Sounded like bullshit to her. "Though I guess we didn't know what it would summon when we got it. Dude we took it off of was vague on the details." He'd been bleeding on the floor and concussed from having been kicked down a stairwell by Reese, but there was no need to go into that.

"I'm saying you're not the most welcoming person ever. You probably intended to call something powerful, but had no interest in the results beyond that at the time. John may have wanted to summon an ally, a comrade."

"Maybe. Reese isn't exactly warm and fuzzy either." Though even the fae seemed to like him despite all the social awkwardness. It was _extremely_ annoying.

"I think if you used it now to summon Grim to this world, you'd get very different results." Root held the disk back out to her. "Just something to think about."

Shaw almost wanted Grim to go back to his world so she could try. She'd wanted it to work so badly after she'd seen Grim the first time, but she hadn't ever brought herself to try again. What if nothing happened?

She carefully tucked the disk away again.

"She's the reason for these, too." Root traced one of the blue lines with her finger. "When other beings from Her plane are nearby, they sometimes resonate together."

"Your god is near here?" It felt obvious as soon as she said it. Why else would Root be camped out in this dump? "Is she trapped in this house?"

"Nearby." Root started petting Grim again, the tension leaving her face. "Thank you, Sameen."

Shaw retreated to the far corner to sit by the space heater. "I didn't do anything."

"Of course." Root looked up at her with an evil grin on her face. "You realize I only have the one mattress and we're going to have to huddle together for warmth, right?"

"No."

And yet later she found herself lying on the mattress, almost falling off the side in her attempt to leave space between herself and Root.

"If I end up spooning you, you only have yourself to blame," Root said from behind her.

"Fuck that." Shaw rolled over to face her. She didn't do bed sharing but if she had to there was no fucking way she was the little spoon.

They'd blown out the lantern (and turned off the space heater in case it decided to catch on fire in the middle of the night), but she thought she could see Root smile in the dark. She shut her eyes and concentrated on falling asleep.

When she woke up in the morning it was to hair in her face. Not her hair. Root had snuck over during the night and fit herself into the curve of Shaw's body. And somehow Shaw's arm had ended up slung over her. Shaw narrowed her eyes. She'd been tricked into cuddling! Unacceptable.

She irritably brushed the hair out of her face and was about to shake Root awake and demand retribution when something caught her eye. Cautiously, she sat up, and looked down at Root. There, tucked behind her ear where it would have been hard to see even if she hadn't always had her hair down, was an ugly pink scar. Shaw raised a hand to touch it, but caught herself before she did. She had little doubt what she was seeing or who had caused it (though she didn't think stapedectomies were on the bureau's usual torture list), but what she didn't understand was how she hadn't noticed. Root hadn't given any indication of her hearing being damaged, and with an injury like this it definitely would have been. Maybe her god was helping her in some way?

She untangled herself from Root and the blankets and scrambled to her feet. There were a few upset grumbles from the mess of blankets left behind and then Root rolled over and looked up at her blearily.

"There're much better ways to wake someone up in the morning, sweetie."

She looked down at Root and thought about bringing up the scar behind her ear. Root hadn't told her about it, and she hadn't looked like she wanted to talk about what had happened when she'd been captured. It was probably best to leave it alone for now no matter how much she wanted to ask.

"Tough. I need to get back now."

Root yawned and sat up slowly. "John is planning to go out to look for you if you don't show up soon."

"Your god tell you that?" Shaw grabbed her jeans off the chair. They were...better, but still damp. Oh well.

"She did. She can see some things in this general area, but not much further unfortunately." Root showed no inclination to move so Shaw grabbed her pants off the floor and tossed them at her.

"Can she see what the bureau is up to in town?"

"A bit, yes. Their behavior is odd, though. They don't actually seem to be doing much other than upsetting your friend the Chief of police."

Root finally pushed back the covers and started to pull her pants on. Shaw watched her slide the dark material of her black jeans up her long legs. Maybe Reese could wait another twenty minutes….

"Shaw? Are you ready?"

Shaw blinked away the graphic daydream that had been playing out in her head. "Yeah, pretty much." She hadn't brought a lot with her and most of it was still in her bag.

The snow outside wasn't very deep, but the cold wind cut right through Shaw's clothes and left her shivering. Root looked even worse off in her jacket, and her teeth were chattering seconds after they walked out the door. There was a light crust of frost on top of the snow and their feet crunched through it as they walked to the stable where Bacchanalia was.

Bacchanalia seemed surprisingly unbothered by the cold despite her open stall. The horse blanket she had on might have helped a little, but Shaw still wondered how she hadn't frozen to death right up until she stepped up next to the stall. Nothing visibly changed, but the temperature rose instantly to a much more comfortable level. Shaw looked down and saw the snow around the stall was melted in a straight line, like there was an invisible barrier holding the warmth in.

"Did your god do this, too?" she asked.

Root looked over from where she was buckling the saddle on Bacchanalia. "Well, She wasn't just going to let her freeze to death."

"Why couldn't she have kept your room warm as well?"

"Who says She didn't?"

Shaw had thought that space heater had done too good a job to be true. It was a little odd to imagine a god going out of their way to help a couple humans and a horse though. "She seems very benevolent for a warlock's patron. All the warlocks we know about destroyed everything in sight and yet you're just hanging out in the middle of nowhere and your patron is more worried about your horse than taking over the world or whatever."

Root shrugged. "Most warlock patrons are demons, not gods, so it's not a straight-forward comparison in terms of methodology and motive. No god has ever made a pact with a human before."

"What makes you so special?"

Root only smiled.

"What about the other warlock? What's their patron?"

"Almost definitely connected to a demon." Root stepped back. "Ready to get out of here?"

They rode out of the field rather than walking this time, but Root let Bacchanalia go slowly so she wouldn't step wrong in the snow. Halfway to the road, Shaw looked back to find the decrepit house hidden from view again and only an empty snowy field left in its place.

Root didn't speed up much even when they got to the snow-covered road. It might have been faster if Shaw had walked, though it definitely would have been colder without being pressed up against Root's back.

"Are you going to hide out until the bureau leaves?" she asked as they plodded along.

"I expect I'll need to show up before then. Whatever ends up happening will involve Her and that means it will involve me as well."

"Isn't the bureau just after the warlock though? The other one, I mean."

Root looked back over her shoulder at her. "You think it's a coincidence that the warlock is here of all places?"

"I mean, _I'm_ here, too. Maybe coincidences stack up in this place."

"Oh, that's no coincidence. I made sure Carter's request for help ended up with you and John."

" _What?_ "

"Would you rather not be here?"

Shaw sulked because Root was right and she did want to be here. Whatever was going on here was big, way bigger than her, and probably extremely important. It was unfair that Root was being so reasonable about it. It made it hard to be annoyed at her.

"Shaw, look." Root brought the horse to a stop and Shaw peered around her to see what the fuss was.

Walking on one side of the road was a massive creature, easily over eight feet tall. It looked almost like a deer with blindingly white fur, walking on four thick legs, and with enormous antlers stretching high above it, the prongs translucent like icicles. The face also resembled a deer's, but there was something ever so slightly off about it that made the comparison uncomfortable. It was covered in long, thick, white and silver fur, and along its spine, small white crystals jutted up like spikes.

"An ice elemental," Shaw breathed. She'd seen drawings of them, but never even a photo of a real one. Elementals often took animal forms, though not exclusively, but she'd never heard of one looking like a huge deer. "What's it doing here?"

"This is one of the places it lives. During the winter anyway."

The elemental stepped onto the road and Shaw watched it as it crossed, its long, white tail dragging behind it in the snow. There was a slight tinkling noise as it moved, like crystals chiming all around it. It didn't even spare them a glance, which Shaw was grateful for--elementals were unbelievably powerful and almost unstoppable when provoked. Fortunately, most of them behaved exactly the way this one was and acted as if humans didn't exist.

She'd known there were elementals that had chosen to live on earth rather than their original plane, but they all lived as far from humans as they could. This town was the middle of nowhere, but there were still people here.

They waited until it had vanished into the woods on the other side of the road before they moved on.

"What else is hiding out in the forest here?" Shaw asked as they started off again. "A whole clan of vampires?"

"Don't be silly, Shaw. There's no such thing as vampires. And as to what else is in the woods, well, you'd be surprised."

"I'd rather not be, thanks."

Root halted a lot further from town than she had last time. "You're on your own from here, sweetie."

Shaw slid down to the ground. "I'll see you around, I guess?"

"Quite soon if I have anything to do with it." Root turned Bacchanalia back the way they'd come. "Leave your window unlocked tonight." She winked and then urged Bacchanalia into a trot.

Shaw watched her ride away and then turned back to the town. Time to find out what she'd missed.

As she approached the buildings she could see people out in the streets again. It looked like business was back to normal. She headed towards the inn first, figuring she should find Reese. She'd only made it about half a block before a cop stopped her.

"Chief wants a word with you." It was Dani, the officer she'd met the other day.

"Can I put my bag down in my room first?"

"She said right away."

Shaw thought about going anyway to spite her, but she guessed she could understand why Carter might be impatient to see her. "Lead the way."

Dani didn't take her back by the direct path, but led her behind the houses through some yards and to a rear entrance to the police station. No one was in the office, but Dani motioned her to the single chair. "Wait here. I'll get her."

The second Dani left, Shaw started poking around on Carter's desk. There wasn't much to find--some photos of the new murder and the scene of the fight with the demon. There was a photo of the summoning circle that must have been used to call the demon off on the far side of the field. Nothing special about it and not a sigil she'd seen before.

She heard a door shut and quickly returned to the chair.

"Where the hell did you run off to?" Carter looked pissed.

"I was following a lead." Not completely untrue.

"Well, your former employers are here making my life hell so I hope you found something useful."

Shaw frowned. "You didn't call them?" She'd assumed Carter had called in the murder.

"I thought you might have, but John says otherwise."

"Neither of us want to be anywhere near them. Where is Reese anyway?"

"Helping repair one of the houses that got damaged. The agents from the bureau are keeping a close eye on him so he hasn't been able to do much of anything and I decided he could make himself useful." Carter sat down behind her desk. "Now where were you and what did you find out?"

"I was looking for clues about what a warlock might want here and I found…." What could she safely say? "I think this might be more complicated than we'd initially thought. Did anyone else show up with the bureau?"

"How should I know? It's just a bunch of people in suits and some soldiers armed to the teeth."

"And there's been no more attacks or murders?"

"It's been quiet. Too quiet." Carter drummed her fingers on her desk. "Is 'it's complicated' really the best you've got?"

Shaw hated herself for being cryptic like Root, but there wasn't much she could safely tell Carter yet. Maybe this was how Root felt all the time. "Well, it's almost definitely a warlock, and it's probably here for a very specific reason, but I'm not sure what." The artifact would be the obvious guess, whatever that was. "If we can figure that out then maybe we can get it out of here before it gets more destructive."

"That's not much to go on."

"It isn't. Is there any way you can get Reese away from the bureau so he and I can go talk to the fae?" It said a lot that she would rather talk to the asshole fae than the bureau, but if anyone had more information right now it was them.

"Not right now. The bureau folks are really interested in talking to you, though."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." It was inevitable and there were a few things she wanted to discuss with them, so she might as well get it over with. "I'm going to go change in my room first. Jeans got soaked."

"They're watching the entrance."

"Not a problem." If Root could use the rooftops then so could she.

It wasn't too hard to find where Root had climbed up, and the back of the inn didn't seem to be being watched. Shaw slipped in her own window and gratefully changed into fresh clothing. Her bed had been made and the room looked spotless--evidence that Doris had been through--but she could tell someone had searched her stuff. The good news was it didn't look like they'd found the stuff below the floorboards. Her transform glove really did come in handy sometimes. Maybe she would think more about what Root had suggested about testing out its full capabilities once she had time.

There was a familiar face waiting for her downstairs in the common room.

"Shaw."

"Hersh."

She wasn't thrilled to see her former trainer from the ISA, but there were worse people it could have been. Hersh was dangerous, but he was also uncomplicated. He kept his nose out of the politics. "I take it you have to bring me in for questioning now."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Take your problems outside, thank you,"called Doris from behind the bar. Shaw couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her, but she looked surprisingly intimidating scowling at them.

"No problem." Shaw headed to the door. "Not like I got anything to hide."

The combination of rain and snow had turned the dirt roads into a muddy mess that sucked at Shaw's boots every step she took. Hersh led the way silently through the town past the suspicious stares of the locals.

"Is Control here?" she asked.

"No."

That was surprising. As the head of the ISA (and Hersh's boss), she'd have thought Control would be up to her neck in this. "Who's in charge then?"

Hersh ignored the question completely. Shaw had been surprised he'd answered the first one, even if it had only been one word. Maybe Control wasn't here due to political reasons and Hersh had his nose out of joint over it? It was only a guess though and it wasn't like Hersh to get involved in that sort of drama.

The bureau had set up camp--actual camp--in the fields south of town, not too far from where the demon had shown up. A small village of large tent buildings stretched across the field, most of them with the bureau's seal on the side. There was also an entire fleet of suv's and hummers parked nearby, some of which looked like they might be mired in the mud.

Hersh led her to a tent that was guarded by two heavily armed soldiers. "Inside."

Shaw pushed the flap to one side and entered. The inside was darker than she'd expected, lit by a large number of portable lights. The larger lights in the tent were all shut off for some reason. There was a man sitting at a folding desk in the center, with an armed agent on either side looking uncomfortable on their little camp stools. One of them rose and approached her when she entered.

"Hands off," she said when the agent got near her.

"Agent Shaw, you know the protocols," the man at the desk said. "Just let the man do his job and search you."

"I'm not an agent anymore, and you're the one who wanted to talk to me. Tell him to back off, or I walk." She wasn't armed with anything other than one small infused artifact that would probably go unnoticed, but it was more the principle of the thing.

"Very well. If it makes you feel safer." The condescension in his voice made Shaw want to beat him with his own chair, but at least he waved off the agent. "I take it you remember me?"

"Sure. Denton Weeks, head of R&D for the bureau and presenter of some of the worst powerpoint presentations I've ever had to sit through."

The bureau's research and development team and the ISA hadn't been in the same chain of command, but the ISA had often gotten tasked with doing field work and testing for the R&D team. Some of it had been fun, but some of it had made Shaw uneasy.

Weeks smiled, large and fake. "And you were one of the best ISA agents until you went and grew a conscience. Didn't even think that was possible for someone like you."

Shaw regarded him coolly. With only two armed guards in here and two soldiers outside, she could kill him and be out the door before they even had a chance to stand up. In some ways he wasn't completely wrong. She'd joined the ISA because it had seemed like a good way to protect people and it was easier to let someone at the top handle the moral dilemmas and just focus on the actual work on the ground. Fairfield had shaken her already slipping faith that the bureau was actually an organization worth belonging to, and Reese had agreed with her on that. So it wasn't that he was entirely wrong, it was just that the way he said it made her want to kick his teeth in.

"Did you want to ask me something?"

Weeks shuffled some papers on his desk, revealing a small handgun in the mess. Weeks usually didn't do his dirty work himself, but he didn't shy away from it either. "Yes, it seems you and your partner got yourselves in over your heads here. Good thing someone called us to sort it out."

"We got called in to look into some farm animal mutilations. A demon showed up and we got rid of it. Not really something I'd expect the bureau to take much of an interest in." And especially not the R&D team.

"You're leaving out a lot, aren't you? Like the man who got murdered, and also one of the fae." Weeks leaned back in his chair. "Those little fuckers are hard to kill. Like cockroaches. And you really think this demon that you and some local cop drove off could have managed that?"

"Did you have a different theory?"

Weeks stood up and walked around the desk to stand in front of her. She continued to stare calmly at him. She'd had monsters from other dimensions try to intimidate her before; Weeks didn't even rank.

"What I can't figure out is why after Fairfield you'd be covering up for one of those things," Weeks said.

"You're right. I should leave covering up for warlocks to the professionals."

The slight twitch of his eye let Shaw know she'd hit her mark. Weeks knew about Fairfield. He would almost have had to. Hell, R&D was probably in charge of the warlock wrangling project. That was right up their alley.

"I suppose you did start running with the wrong crowd towards the end," Weeks continued, ignoring her comment. "We had reports you were doing business with a particularly dangerous illegal fuser before Fairfield. You were going to be disciplined for that, you know."

Shaw snorted. "Sure, whatever you say." Half the ISA worked with illegal fusers from time to time. Without the restrictions of the bureau they tended to be better and more creative at using and understanding artifacts. Her association with Root hadn't been legal, but it hadn't been unusual either. But the fact Weeks knew about Root opened up a very interesting line of thought. Root had said the bureau had asked her about a way to control unnaturals and detect original artifacts. Those sounded exactly like the sort of things R&D would be interested in. Interested enough to, say, capture someone and slice a hole in their ear if they thought it would get them answers. "Did my illegal fuser buddy tell you anything interesting after you had them abducted from Fairfield for a little vacation in your nicest torture dungeon?"

Weeks's eye twitched again and a nasty smile spread over his lips. "I have no clue what you're talking about, Agent Shaw."

Shaw didn't make rash, impulsive decisions. That was Reese's thing, and often Root's as well. No, her decision to slam the heel of her palm into Denton Weeks's nose was one she'd been considering very carefully and strategically for the last few minutes. Sure it might land her in trouble, but she'd decided that the benefits far outweighed the risk. Weeks screaming like a stuck pig was the main benefit and definitely worth the cost of having four guns pointed at her. She raised her hands and smiled at the men.

"Take it easy, boys. I'm sure your boss is too tough to let a little bruise get him down."

Weeks looked up, blood streaming down his face. "Arrest her."

"I think that's out of your jurisdiction," she pointed out.

"We work for the US government. Nothing is out of our jurisdiction," he hissed.

"Wow. I mean, that's wrong, but it's still a great line." She didn't doubt they would hesitate to try and haul her off even if it wasn't within their jurisdiction, but she was fairly confident she wasn't going to let them.

"Don't just stand there!" Weeks snapped at his guards. "Take her into custody. She's going to regret this for a very long time."

"Just a moment," a new voice called from the entrance to the tent.

Shaw looked past the guards to see an older man she'd never seen before enter. His neat suit seemed out of place in the makeshift military camp, as did his British accent.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Ms. Shaw before you cart her off."

Weeks looked like he was about to object until yet another man in a suit stepped into the tent. The small space was now way too full of old white men in suits for Shaw's liking. The newest man she actually recognized, though. Senator Ross Garrison had been a big supporter of the bureau in Congress over the years, but it was still surprising to see him out here in the middle of nowhere.

Weeks wiped the blood off his face and glared at the old British dude. "You can't just sweep in here and--"

Garrison held up a hand. "Denton, give him what he wants."

The pained look on Weeks's bloody face was very satisfying, but Shaw was dying to know who this newcomer was who had a Senator deferring to him.

Weeks looked furious, but he nodded and backed away.

"Ms. Shaw? This way if you please." The old British man motioned towards the flap of the tent.

Outside, Shaw drew in a deep breath of the frigid air. She was still wired from the fight she'd thought she was going to have, but only a little disappointed it'd been cancelled. Or postponed anyway. She'd just assaulted a government official in front of multiple witnesses after all.

"This way," the British man said as he walked past her. She glanced back, but no one else seemed about to leave the tent. It was going to be a private conversation then. Interesting.

He led her to what was arguably a hummer, except it was much longer and had tinted windows. A large man who was definitely ex-military and well-armed under his nicely cut suit opened the back door of the hummer and motioned for her to get in.

"Where are we headed?" she asked, eyeing the car suspiciously.

"Nowhere, I assure you. This is merely the only private place to talk in this...camp." He sounded scornful.

Well, she'd come this far, and it wasn't like she'd have any trouble getting away if she wanted. Shaw got in the backseat.

The rear of the hummer looked like a luxury limo. There were two rows of seats facing each other with a table in between, and what looked like a mini fridge in one corner. Shaw sat on the seat nearest the door and waited while the old man got himself comfortable across from her. She stiffened when the door shut, but the hummer didn't turn on or move.

"Okay," she said. "Not that I'm ungrateful for the assist with Weeks, even if I had that under control, but how about you tell me who you are and what you want from me?"

The old man smiled, his eyes burning with a cold light. "My name is John Greer and I'm the head of a company called Decima. Perhaps you've heard of us?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Not surprising, though perhaps a little disappointing. You see, when it comes to the business of warlocks, we're the leading authority."

An independent company that was in the 'business' of warlocks? "Uh, no offense, but what does that even mean and what does it have to do with me?"

Greer's soulless smile grew wider on his wrinkled face. "It means, Ms. Shaw, that we're very interested in finding a friend of yours. I believe she calls herself Root."


	7. Encounters

Shaw didn't even blink. "Root? What sort of dumbass name is that?"

Greer sighed. "Let's not waste each other's time, Ms. Shaw. I am aware of your association with the unlicensed fuser named Root before the Fairfield incident, and also aware that you've seen her quite recently and that she's managed to become a warlock for a very rare and dangerous type of unnatural. These are all facts, so let's dispense with the lying."

Shaw just stared blankly at him. "Sorry, not ringing any bells. Can I go now?"

"What did she tell you, I wonder, to make you think she was innocent of the crimes that have been committed here?" Greer picked up a folder off the seat next to him and pulled out a few photos and dropped them on the table. They were all from the various crime scenes in the town, nothing Shaw hadn't seen before.

"You and John Reese are very good at your jobs and no doubt came to the correct conclusion that a warlock was likely responsible for the murders. But then, when presented with an actual warlock, you did nothing, or at least that's what I'd assume since you've failed to turn her in."

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting whatever it is that's killing people yet." Shaw slouched down in her chair and toyed with the cold, metal ring on her finger. "I think you've gotten your wires crossed somewhere, because I don't know what you're talking about."

"She really has quite a hold on you, doesn't she? A pity. You could have been quite valuable to us if you weren't compromised."

"Can I go now?"

"You're a logical person, Ms. Shaw, it's one of the reasons we were interested in recruiting you. And here you have a scenario where a warlock is evidently responsible for a killing and then a warlock appears shortly after the crime. Why are you so sure she's innocent? Now that the bureau has been called in, it's only a matter of time until this town turns into another Fairfield, only this time the blood will be on your hands."

A little nagging question that had been in the back of Shaw's mind swam up to the surface. "You're right, it's probably going to get messy with the bureau here. Really makes me wonder who actually called them, you know?" She watched his face carefully.

"Yes, well, I'm sure it was just a concerned citizen."

"And here I thought we'd dispensed with the lying." Shaw sat up. "I'd say it's been a pleasure, but it really hasn't." She opened the door which she was surprised to find was actually unlocked.

"Ms. Shaw."

She paused with one foot out the door.

"When you see Ms. Root again, if you could give her a message. Ask her if she'd rather be allowed to keep her current arrangement under more...controlled conditions or end up being taken apart one piece at a time by the persistent little scientists at the bureau."

Controlled conditions. A disturbing thought occurred to her. "That's why you're here, isn't it? Selling the bureau a way to control warlocks?"

Greer only smiled. "Do pass the message along."

She got out of the hummer and slammed the door. The guard in the suit loomed threateningly nearby still, but no one from the bureau had shown up to arrest her. Probably a good sign. Still, she played it safe and tried to stay out of sight on her way back into town. That meant that she was in just the right place to overhear a conversation between two soldiers near one of the giant inactive flood lights on the edge of the camp.

"You're sure it's not broken?"

"It's working perfectly, it's just like the electricity is...vanishing."

The two men were bent over what must have been some type of portable generator.

"Whole camp is running off batteries and even those seem faulty sometimes."

"It's like this town is a dead zone."

Shaw crept past them quietly, turning the words around in her mind to see where they fit into the puzzle. She'd thought the town's antiquated setup was some pretentious quirk--people trying to escape the problems of the modern days by slipping into idealized recreations of the past--but maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe there was an actual reason that electricity barely existed here.

Shaw was almost back to town when she spotted a familiar figure leaning against one of the posts on the nearby cow pastures, engaged in a staring contest with a bored-looking cow.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Reese said when she approached.

"Got a little delayed by snow storms and bureaucracy. You see Weeks is here?"

Reese pushed off the fence post. "I already had my chat with all the nice people from the bureau. How'd yours go?"

"I broke his nose."

"Weeks?"

"Yeah."

"Wish I could have seen that, but why aren't I breaking you out of jail right now?"

Shaw looked back over her shoulder at the camp, half-expecting to see soldiers headed her way. "Some dude named Greer showed up and asked to chat with me right then. And get this: Ross Garrison was with him and told Weeks to do what he said."

"I didn't meet anyone called Greer. Who is he?"

"Maybe we should move this conversation somewhere else." There were too many people around for her to explain more safely. "Don't you still have to go chat with our obnoxious woodland buddies?" She wanted to go back to the inn and arm herself better, but maybe it was a good idea to make herself scarce for a few hours.

"I do. My tail seems to have vanished for the moment, but Weeks might send someone else after us."

"Maybe we can give them to the fae as a present."

They set off across the fields towards the woods, their feet crunching on frozen grass one second and sinking into mud the next.

"Greer works for some company called Decima, and he was after Root. He seemed pretty sure I was in contact with her, which is weird since I don't think anyone saw us leave together."

Reese's face twisted into a grimace. "You, uh--"

"What? I what?"

He tapped the side of his neck with an apologetic look. Shaw's fingers rose to her own neck, the memory of Root biting the hell out of her during the whole piano sex thing resurfacing. There was definitely a sore spot there.

"I'm going to kill her."

"At least that's one mystery solved though, right? What did Greer want with her anyway?"

"His company, Decima, I think they're trying to find a way to control warlocks that they can sell to the bureau or something."

Reese nodded slowly. "That sounds like the sort of idiotic thing Weeks would be into. But how does that involve Root?"

She'd forgotten he didn't know. Root might not have wanted her to tell Reese (she'd never liked him much), but better he found out now from her while she could explain that Root hadn't been behind the murders than he find out later in a more tense situation where things could get heated. "Root's a warlock."

The way Reese almost face planted into the mud was very satisfying. She filled him in on the rest as they hiked into the woods, leaving out only a few little bits that weren't any of his business. She noted the way his shoulders stiffened when she told him about Fairfield and how the bureau had let it burn. Yeah, he was probably going to do something dumb and vengeful at some point. She made a mental note to herself to keep an eye out for that.

"You don't think there's any way she could actually be the warlock causing problems then?" Reese asked when she finished. "I know you two are...uh…but it's not like she's ever had a problem with killing people."

"What would she get out of killing a farmer and one of the fae?" Root usually had a reason for killing people. Sometimes it was a pretty tenuous one, but there was always some motive. "Also the way the bureau just showed up here out of nowhere and now this guy Greer?" Shaw shook her head. "This whole thing stinks."

"Agreed."

They halted when they reached the circle of tree trunks and Reese pulled the blue stone out of his pocket. "You know it's been a bad week when the fae are our best hope of getting answers."

Shaw snorted. "Yeah, well let's hope they're feeling talkative."

They arrived much quicker this time, like they'd been expecting the call, and there was only one them--the one with the horizontal pupils that she'd nicknamed Sneezy. She'd always seen the fae in pairs when they'd been called to a circle, so she'd kind of expected another fae to have replaced Grumpy, but apparently not.

Sneezy looked directly at her the second they appeared. "You smell like one of the abominations."

Shaw rolled her eyes. "Well, hello to you, too. I'm assuming you mean a warlock?" Root was giving away their association in all sorts of unexpected ways today.

"That is what you call them, yes." Sneezy blinked, their eyelids closing from the sides rather than from the top and bottom. "You also smell of the--" They said a word Shaw didn't know and was sure a human couldn't physically pronounce.

"Uh, do you mean the god who's the warlock's patron?" she asked. She wasn't sure what else she might smell like.

"It is not a god, but if that is the term humans have chosen it will suffice for now."

They blinked twice more rapidly and Shaw couldn't help but wonder if they were smelling her with their _eyes_.

"What can you tell us about the god?" Reese asked. "We know it's been trapped here a long time." He quickly added, "Only information you're willing to share freely, of course."

Sneezy turned to look at him and then back to Shaw. It was the first time the fae had seemed more interested in her, and she wasn't thrilled about it.

"The...god was enticed here a long time ago by some of your kind. With help, they trapped it and tried to use it for their own purposes, but as...what would you call it? Machines? Technology? As that evolved, the god's powers posed more and more of a threat and so they stranded it here in a place where it could do no harm."

"Electricity," Shaw said, understanding dawning. "The files we have on gods say that they can give off electricity of some sort or interfere with different types of fields. They were worried about the god they trapped taking down the country's power grid or something so they put her somewhere that was cut off from the grid as much as possible."

"That is correct," Sneezy confirmed. "An angry god would only become more powerful the more advanced the technology brought against it was. Your entire world is so tightly connected by such a fragile web now, and would shatter if it were destroyed."

Shaw imagined what would happen if a pissed off superpowered unnatural took down the internet and erased all electronic data connected to it. Or changed it.

Maybe Decima didn't want Root as much as they wanted access to her god's power. Now _that_ was a disturbing thought.

"Yeah, I can see how that might upset some people," Shaw agreed.

"Your people," Sneezy corrected. "We have kept an eye on the trapped god over the years, but it does not wish us harm. It is more of a threat to your kind than ours."

"There's another warlock though, right?" Shaw asked. "That's what you're actually scared of?"

"The fae do not scare easily." The voice tone patterns of fae weren't easy to interpret in human standards, but Shaw thought maybe they sounded offended.

"But there is a second warlock?" Reese asked. "Anything you can tell us about them?"

Sneezy was quiet for a long moment and Shaw thought they might vanish again without answering. Eventually they spoke.

"They serve what you would call a demon. Most demons are powerful but not intelligent, however this type is different. You would do well to stay away from it, though I suspect you will not." Sneezy hesitated. "Should you happen to find a way to do it harm, I would consider it a favor owed to you."

"Because it killed Gru…your, uh, friend?"

"They were my…" They said another unpronounceable word that Shaw didn't know, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Reese nodding.

"You know what that means?" she asked, incredulous. She knew Reese had spent way more time talking to the fae, but she hadn't known he'd picked up some of their language.

"Yeah, it's like--" Reese frowned, looking for words. "--the closest we have to it might be a partner in the field."

"Like us then?"

"A little more complicated, but yes. Fae travel in pairs when they visit other planes and they always travel in the same pair. It's...we don't have an equivalent word. A partnership, but closer, and not in any of the ways we'd define being close. They're responsible for watching out for each other, but also responsible for holding each other accountable. I think."

Shaw looked at Sneezy, searching for anything in their expression that she could interpret. If something had killed Reese she would have been deeply pissed, so she could get wanting revenge.

"If we run into this warlock, I'll give them an extra kick in the kidneys once they're down." Expressing sympathy wasn't her thing, but in Sneezy's place she wouldn't have wanted any. Kicking someone somewhere it hurt was a multi-universal language though hopefully.

Sneezy blinked at her in acknowledgment. "They should not have gone alone, but they were determined to warn John Reese about the warlock, somewhere where they could speak freely."

"You can't speak freely here?" Shaw asked. Sneezy had given them more information this time, but they were definitely still holding some things back. It was odd that Grumpy, seemingly the less friendly of the two fae, had been the one to seek them out at great risk to themselves, but then they'd specifically been seeking out Reese and not her. Not that she could blame them for that.

"Our worlds have rules established between them. We do not interfere with your world and its politics and in return--" Sneezy spread their hands wide. "There are established rules."

Fae and human politics had a tendency to get complicated in a way that gave Shaw a headache and while she was curious what humans could have offered the fae (or threatened them with) she wasn't curious enough to pry right now. There was already enough of a mess to sort through.

Snowflakes started to fall, finding their way through the tangled branches above to stick to the grass. Shaw hadn't noticed, but the temperature has definitely dropped.

"We should get back before we get caught out in this," she suggested.

"Wait, there is one thing more." Sneezy was staring directly at her with those disconcerting eyes. "That ring you are wearing, would you consider returning it to us?"

Shaw looked down at the thick metal ring on her finger, the one that let her make the illusory duplicate of herself that she'd used to fool the ember demon. As infused artifacts went it was one of her favorites. "I know the crafter who made this and he definitely isn't fae. Not sure how handing this over would be returning it when you never owned it in the first place."

Sneezy tilted their head, a surprisingly human gesture. "You really don't know. I had thought the warlock would have told you."

"Don't know what?" She looked at Reese. "You know what they're talking about?"

He shook his head.

Sneezy turned to look behind themself into the woods. "You must leave now. Something is coming here."

"Uh, that sounds bad."

"Yes." Sneezy stooped to pick up the marble off the ground and lightly tossed it out of the circle. "Perhaps we can finish this discussion another day, Sameen Shaw." They faded into the woods almost instantly, leaving the center of the circle empty. The falling snow was starting to stick to the ground all around the ring of stumps, but not a single flake fell in the middle.

"Did one of the fae actually volunteer to talk to me again?" Shaw asked. "That's a first."

"You must have won them over with your charm." Reese reclaimed his stone and peered into the darkening woods. "We should get out of here."

A movement to the side made Shaw reach for the gun she didn't have, but it was only Grim, appearing out of the shadows. He was staring into the woods and a low growl was coming from his throat.

"I think he agrees," Shaw said.

It was mid-afternoon and even with the storm it was way too dark out. Something bad was definitely out there.

"Yeah, no argument here."

The snow started falling harder as they made their way back through the woods. Reese pulled an infused artifact that looked like a compass out of his pocket to help them navigate. The compass needle pointed to the user's desired location rather than north, a handy trick and one that had saved their lives before. They didn't need it now with Grim running ahead of them and looking back to guide them, but Reese stubbornly kept it out anyway.

"Wait." Shaw stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Something's following us."

She could _feel_ it, like a weight pressing against her back. The forest behind them was dark and still, but there was a distant creaking noise and sounds of snapping, like trees were being twisted and bent.

"What the hell is that?" Reese asked quietly, peering into the shadows.

"I'd rather not find out."

As Shaw watched, she saw something creeping forwards through the trees like a wave, leaving behind it deformed trees, contorted and drained of color like broken bones stuck in the ground.

"I think we run now," Shaw said, backing up slowly.

"One second." Reese pulled a small metal sphere out of his pocket and held it up. A mass of vines and leaves grew out the front of it in a blur forming a wall in front of them. "Not sure it'll help, but--"

"Let's go."

Shaw heard when the creeping wave hit Reese's wall even though they were well out of sight range of it and sprinting. It sounded like the whole forest exploded and then came raining down in pieces.

"I once saw a tank run into one of those walls and bounce off," Reese yelled as they ran.

They burst out of the woods into the open fields around the town and staggered to a halt a short distance from the treeline. Shaw stared back at the woods as she caught her breath and wondered what they'd do if it kept chasing them now. They couldn't lead that back into town.

The woods behind them looked normal though, quiet and full of gently falling snowflakes. There was no sign of whatever had been chasing them. Grim still looked alert as he watched the woods, but he didn't seem as agitated.

"Was that the other warlock?" Reese asked as they watched the quiet woods.

"I think that's a safe bet."

"Maybe it didn't want us talking to the fae."

"Yeah, maybe."

The adrenaline from their flight was wearing off and Shaw became aware that she was freezing. The snow was starting to build up on the ground around them. Grim had vanished at some point while Shaw wasn't looking, a sign that the danger had passed.

"What do we do now?" Reese asked.

"We could leave. Nothing keeping us here."

"We could."

The silence between them was full of the unspoken acknowledgement that neither of them was willing to leave. Something this big and entangled with the bureau was something Shaw couldn't walk away from. And then there was Root.

"We need to find out more about Decima," Shaw said, firmly setting aside her previous train of thought. "Root's god said there was some other player involved in this that she couldn't see, and then a mysterious organization with a stake in what's going on here shows up out of nowhere? Bet anything they're the force driving this."

"You want me to try talking to Greer?"

"Maybe. Or maybe we see if Senator Garrison feels like chatting."

That idea was thwarted as soon as they arrived back and ran into the armed soldiers on the edge of the bureau's camp.

"Neither of you is allowed past here."

"Didn't know the bureau owned this land," Reese said. He wasn't quite looming threateningly, but the potential was there.

Shaw tapped his arm and shook her head. Not worth it. Strong-arming their way in wasn't going to get them the sorts of answers they needed.

"Do any of those books you brought have a section on types of demons in them?" Shaw asked as they walked away from the soldiers. "Might help to know what we're up against."

"One of them should."

Doris was still in the inn common room when they got back, looking like she hadn't moved an inch. She didn't look thrilled to see them, but she didn't try to kick them out either. Shaw let Reese handle smoothing her ruffled feathers and requesting dinner.

The first thing she did when she got back upstairs, was re-arm herself. Having spent most of the day with only her little illusion ring as protection hadn't been fun, even if it had been necessary. None of her guns or artifacts were sufficient for dealing with what they'd seen in the woods, but she still felt better once she was armed again.

She joined Reese in his room and watched impatiently as he looked through his books.

"This one." Reese pulled a smaller book from the pile. "Bureau guide to demons."

"Just how many books did you steal when we quit?"

"Not as many as I'd have liked. Ran out of space."

Reese had never been particularly bookish, but he'd still walked off with a pile of the bureau's books, probably out of spite (and Shaw had taken as many infused artifacts as she could steal). Without the wealth of knowledge of the bureau at their fingertips, they'd both had to do a lot more research in the past year and Reese's collection of stolen books had come in handy often.

"We don't have that much to go on since we still haven't seen this warlock," Shaw said, "but we know the demon has a lot of strength as a power rather than as a physical attribute or the warlock wouldn't have been able to tear things apart like that. And it can kill trees? I guess?" That didn't sound like any demon she knew of.

Reese nodded as he flipped through the pages. "And it made everything get darker out in the woods." He stopped and smoothed a page down to read. "No, not that one."

Shaw tried not to get antsy watching him. She'd spent the whole day on the defensive (other than that one glorious moment when she'd punched Weeks) and the lack of taking action was getting to her. It felt like they were still way behind everyone else in terms of information and in a constant state of playing catch up, and sometimes the best way to catch up was to shoot the competition in the knees.

"Do you mind?" Reese asked, offended.

Shaw had picked up what must have once been one of his shirts in her hand with her transform glove and now found herself holding a large ball of tangled threads.

"Oops."

"Maybe take that off? It's not like Doris is going to kick the door down and attack us."

Shaw slumped in a chair and fiddled with the ring on her finger. Sneezy had asked her to return it to them, like it had belonged to the fae once. Had they meant the original artifact it had been made from? Did that mean that original artifacts had been made by unnaturals and not humans after all?

She got that feeling once again that she was so close to an answer and still missing one key piece of the puzzle.

"Do you have a book of known artifacts or something similar?" she asked.

Reese looked up from his book. "I'm not sure if that exists, but I have the pamphlet the bureau hands out to new recruits somewhere."

"There's a _pamphlet_?"

There was a pamphlet. It was four pages front and back with poorly cropped photos. Some of the photos showed effects that looked like they'd been added in microsoft paint. Shaw rolled her eyes but scanned through the text anyway. It wasn't like she had anything better to do.

The first page just had the basics: infused artifacts were made from original artifacts; they could be any item but they needed some type of medium to store their power in, usually crystals but some metals worked as well; most operated off of the user's intent. This was all stuff that every kid in the world knew.

The first example showed a man in a trench coat and sunglasses shooting fireballs from a metal sphere in his hand. Shaw rolled her eyes _again_. Fireballs sounded cool and all but would have done jack shit against that ember demon.

The next page had a ludicrous hand-drawn interpretation of someone using a camouflage artifact being sneaky and another person with a hand above their eyes searching for them. Terrible art aside, _that_ was an artifact Shaw would have liked. The stealth ones were way more versatile than the brute force ones. The real question was if there was one good enough to sneak up on the fae. They were all about fading into the forest mysteriously. It'd be great to turn the tables on them.

She froze, once again sure she was on the brink of some revelation.

A knock on the door made her look up, and whatever it was she'd almost figured out vanished again.

"I don't suppose you know when your friends from the government will be leaving?" Doris asked as she set down a tray of food. "They're upsetting the cows."

"They're definitely not our friends," Shaw said, eyeing the bowls of stew ravenously. How long had it been since the canned fruit?

"We'd like them gone as well," Reese added. "But thank you for putting up with us during this difficult time. And for the food." He sounded awkward, but Doris beamed at him.

"What a nice lad. Leave the tray in the hall when you're through." She looked over their room. "Are all the books to help you fight the demon spawn that attacked our town?"

Shaw mouthed the words 'demon spawn' to herself behind her pamphlet.

"We're hoping to find out more about the specific ones causing problems," Reese explained. "The more we know about them, the more likely we are to find their weaknesses or figure out how to turn their powers against them."

Doris nodded. "Give them a taste of their own medicine."

"Oh." Shaw felt like Doris had just dropped one of Reese's enormous tomes on her head. Was it really that simple? How had no one worked this out before? She looked up to find the other two watching her. "Uh, nothing, sorry. Thanks for the food and stuff." Her mind was racing. She didn't even notice Doris had left until Reese handed her a bowl.

"Want to tell me what you just figured out?" he asked.

"Give me another second."

They ate in silence as Shaw continued to test her theory in her mind. Was there anything she'd seen over the years that might disprove it? It was hard to say with so many unknowns, but her theory felt so _right_ it was almost a physical sensation. She looked at the ring on her hand, slid it off her finger and set it down on the table with a solid _clink_.

"I know what Sneezy meant about this now," she said. "And I think I know what the original artifact here is."

Two hours later, she left Reese still looking through his demon book to return to her room. He hadn't been able to think of a single reason her theory couldn't be possible and his grim expression said he liked it as little as she did.

Now she just needed a way to confirm it.

The source of confirmation she'd been hoping for was sitting outside her window when she got back to her room, looking very cold and pathetic. She'd forgotten Root had said she was stopping by and had used her transform glove to weld the window shut. She placed her hand on the window and hesitated, looking at the glove in a new way. Should she still be using artifacts? She shook the thought away. She didn't have much of a choice in the short term.

Root climbed in, shivering all over and damp from the snow that was falling.

"Hey, sweetie. Wanna help warm a girl up?"

"I need some answers from you. And no games this time."

Root raised an eyebrow. "But I had all sorts of fun games planned for the evening." The line might have worked better if her teeth hadn't been chattering.

Shaw sighed. "Take your clothes off and sit."

Root was all too eager to strip, but looked confused when Shaw handed her a spare blanket.

"If you freeze to death, neither of us is going to have much fun," Shaw pointed out. "Wait here a second."

Root was shivering less when Shaw returned five minutes later with another bowl of stew from Doris that somehow Doris had already had ready for her. Had the fact she was starving been that obvious? Well, this one wasn't for herself unfortunately.

"Here." Shaw thrust it at Root with a glare, daring her to comment. "Better than some canned beans or whatever."

Root looked amused but took the bowl without comment. She took her time eating, but Shaw didn't rush her. The urgency she'd felt earlier had eased up a little now. There was something compelling about sitting there watching Root eat what was probably the first real meal she'd had in weeks.

"What did you have a question about?" Root asked as she set her bowl aside.

"You asked me if I knew what artifacts are. What they really are."

"I did," Root agreed, face unreadable. "Did you figure it out?"

"I think so." She picked up the pamphlet she'd borrowed from Reese and opened it up. "Fireballs. Great unless you're going up against a fire demon or fire elemental since fire is their power." She flipped the page. "Fading into the background, standard fae trick. This one puts people to sleep. Another fae spell, I think." She dropped her shockwave gauntlet onto the table. "Less sure about this one, but shockwaves are one of the things that gods supposedly can do or maybe some type of elemental. This ring? Another fae power based on what happened today. And this--" She took out her transform glove. "--I actually have no clue about this one."

"A species called builders," Root said quietly. "There hasn't been one on earth in a very long time. Yours is the only infused artifact with their powers because there was only ever one original artifact of theirs."

"So I'm right then? Artifacts are made from powers, uh, stolen from unnaturals? They're killing or siphoning off energy from unnaturals to make these things?"

"Almost." Root settled back further on the bed. "Original artifacts are powered by the energy or life force of a living being from another plane. An unnatural as we call them."

"They're still alive in them?" Shaw asked, mildly horrified. "I mean I'd guessed that the original artifact here was what had trapped your god, maybe in an attempt to use her powers, but she's actually trapped in the artifact herself?"

Root looked away, out the window at the falling snow. "She was trapped in one of the very first artifacts ever made, ages ago. And Hers was the first one rediscovered in this time. It was always an imperfect prison. Gods are almost impossible to fully contain due to their nature. They tried though. The man who found the artifact She was trapped in tried to make it a more efficient prison. He spent years working on it in his family house here right outside town. His son took over from him and then his granddaughter and so on." A bitter smile formed on her lips. "They never did figure it out and as Her potential to cause wide-scale chaos in the world increased they took measures to lock Her down another way. This town? Its antiquated setup? All by design, though I don't think any people here know why anymore. The town is funded by a trust from that family. She's kept cut off from the outside world here on top of being trapped in an artifact."

"She's not causing that? The bureau's camp is having some power problems and I thought maybe that was her."

Root's smile turned vindictive. "Oh, that's definitely all Her doing. She doesn't care much for the bureau, but there's not a lot She can do beyond that is Her current state."

"And the reason your back got all messed up…."

"It should be impossible for any being stuck in an artifact to interfere with the outside world, but since She was never fully contained She had some options. Making a pact with me while stuck like that was...challenging and it puts a lot of strain on both of us, but it gives Her a little more freedom to act directly through me."

"A lot of strain is a nice way to put it. You could barely walk."

Root laughed dryly. "The normal ritual to form a pact between a warlock and patron takes about two hours and is, by all accounts, very unpleasant for everyone involved. Every millimeter of the tattoo burns to the bone. It took us seventeen hours to complete our pact."

"Jesus." Root had gone from getting tortured by the bureau to that. And Shaw had thought her year chasing unnaturals (and often raccoons) for rent money had sucked. No wonder Root seemed so damn worn out. "I get what she gets out of it, but why would you want that?"

Root fidgeted with the corner of her blanket before answering. "To be an infused artifact crafter you don't have to know the secret behind artifacts, but the better you understand how they really work, the better results you get. And I wanted to be the best." Her sarcastic tone was full of self-derision.

"I didn't fully figure it out until the bureau captured me. I had...a lot of time to think then. Once I knew, I wanted to find out how it had all started, how original artifacts were made. I sneaked a look through some of the bureau's records on my way out the door and found out about Her and the builders and how it all started. And I wanted…." She shrugged. "I don't think I knew what I wanted, but being fresh out of a month in a tiny cell definitely made me think about what it would be like being trapped like that for years. The bureau didn't have any record of where She was, but in the end, She found me."

"And you were so curious that you decided to get into a lifelong pact with a trapped god."

"She chose me." Root's response was so quiet Shaw almost missed it.

"What does she want anyway?" Shaw asked, hoping to move away from the raw emotion she'd heard in Root's voice. "Escape? Revenge?"

"She just wants to go home. And if She can't have that then She wants to not be used for purposes She might not agree with." Root finally turned away from the window. "I believe you met John Greer today? Unlike the bureau, Decima knows that She's here, though not the exact location. She's what they're after."

"Greer sounded like he was after you."

"I'm the warlock linked to her."

"Right." Shaw looked down at the infused artifacts on the table in front of her. "So these have a piece of an unnatural's energy in them?"

"Yes, they're not alive in the same way the original artifacts are, they're more like a branch cut off a tree."

"One of the fae asked for this one back." She tapped the ring. "I take it the various unnaturals aren't too happy about artifacts."

"Not particularly. One of the main parts of the treaty humans made with the fae was to return any and all artifacts that had been made from denizens of faerie. The bureau returned...most of the original artifacts and only a handful of the infused ones." Root held out her hand and Shaw passed the ring over to her. She examined it for a few seconds before continuing.

"The original artifacts weren't made by humans. The builders made them, quite a number of them, and then one day someone or something made an artifact out of a builder and, just like that, the builders all left and never came back. All the artifacts vanished at the same time and weren't found again for years. No one's figured out how to make new artifacts without the builders, so infused artifacts were the next best thing. Well, until someone got the idea of controlling warlocks." She handed the ring back. "If you're asking me if you should return it, I can't answer that. I've...mostly stopped making infused artifacts now other than a few I thought I might need for fighting any demons I might run into protecting Her."

Shaw took the ring back and turned it around between her fingers. The idea of using it didn't necessarily bother her, but she thought maybe it should have. Either way, the first order of business was dealing with the situation she was stuck in. She could sort out the moral dilemma after this.

"What are you going to do now?" Root asked.

"I was about to ask you that." Shaw set the ring back down. "I'm not leaving until this is sorted out, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next. I was hoping you might have some ideas."

"If you're up for it, I'd like to show you where She's trapped. I could use another pair of eyes."

"Not sure how much help I'll be. I don't know anything about how artifacts work under the hood."

"Sometimes a fresh perspective helps, even if it's an ignorant one."

"Hey!"

Root's face was lit up again, her smile teasing. "We can't go in the middle of the night though, so we'll have to find some way to amuse ourselves until then."

"Maybe I'm feeling too ignorant to amuse you now." Their conversation had kind of been a mood killer, though she wasn't opposed to changing that.

Root shrugged, her smile not budging. "Well, I do have...other options."

"You seriously have a god from another world help you get off?" It sounded ridiculous, but also intriguing. "How does that even work?"

Root's smile widened. "I can show you."

Shaw wasn't sure exactly how she felt about the whole concept, but she also wasn't about to miss out on the opportunity to find out. "Okay. Show me." She settled back in her chair, crossed her arms, and tried to look bored.

* * *

* * *

Root unwrapped herself from the blanket and sat up at the edge of the bed, her legs ever so slightly apart. She shut her eyes and leaned back on one hand. At first it seemed like nothing was happening and Shaw made good use of the time, running her eyes over Root's body.

She and Root had fucked regularly enough before Fairfield that Root's body had felt familiar to her--she knew where to touch her and how to read her reactions, but she'd changed a little in the last year. The longer hair was immediately obvious, but she'd also definitely lost weight. Being locked up and then a diet of canned food probably had a lot to do with that. Maybe when they sorted out this mess she'd have a chance to get back to whatever constituted a normal life for her.

Root's lips parted in an almost-silent exhale of breath and Shaw's attention shifted. There was a flush spreading across Root's cheeks and her head tilted back slightly to give Shaw a great view of her neck.

"What's it feel like?" Shaw asked. "Is it like someone touching you?"

Root shook her head. "No, it's a little like when you touched my tattoo, but all over my body." Her eyes shut and a shiver ran through her. "She knows how humans work, what makes us feel good, which places need to be stimulated just the right amount in the right way to make someone come. Like switches being flipped all over." Her hand drifted down to her thigh and scratched lightly on her skin.

"So she can get you off without any physical contact? I mean, without you helping things along."

"Yes, but I like touching myself as well. It feels more like participating."

"Don't."

Root half-opened one eye to regard her, looking like she might object. "Are you challenging Her, sweetie?" There was amusement in her voice.

"Maybe." Mostly she just liked the visual of Root writhing around without a single thing blocking her view.

"Only you would challenge a god."

Root took her hand away from her thigh and leaned back on both hands. Her legs spread a little wider and her hips started moving, rolling forwards under some unseen touch.

"Does she talk to you when you're like this?"

"No, She--"' A deep moan tore from Root's throat before she could finish her sentence and her fingers clenched in the sheets.

Shaw hadn't known what to expect, but the whole thing was definitely way more of a turn on than she'd thought it would be. There was sweat on Root's neck that she itched to lick off and when Root bit her own lip Shaw could imagine herself biting it instead, pushing Root back onto the bed while claiming her mouth. Root's eyes opened to stare right at her and the look on her face…. It wasn't just lust or pleasure; it was closer to rapture.

"Come over here."

Shaw hadn't decided if she wanted to actively join in, but she found herself standing and walking closer. Her eyes drifted down and damn Root was so wet that the urge to touch her was hard to resist. But when she got to the edge of the bed, Root pulled her legs up and turned, falling onto the mattress on her stomach. Shaw was about to protest when her eyes fell on Root's tattoo. It was like it had been after they'd fucked last time but even more so: pulsing and almost gliding across her skin. An iridescent sheen of colors moved across it in a wave and Root muffled a cry into the sheets. Her hips ground down furiously into the mattress and Shaw couldn't stop herself anymore. She pressed her hand on Root's back, fingers spread wide. A strong tingling ran up her arm and buzzed through her body like a mild electric shock. It felt nice, but Shaw only half registered it because Root came almost the second she touched her, body tensing and arching on the bed. She collapsed onto the mattress after, panting and sweaty. Shaw trailed her fingers over the lines of her tattoo, fascinated at the shudders it pulled out of her even when she was too limp to move.

Root raised her head enough to look up at her. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Definitely." Having what could conceivably be termed a threesome with a god hadn't been on her bucket list, but in retrospect that had been an obvious oversight. And she had a feeling that she'd only gotten a taste of it….

"I brought something for you. In my bag." Root flopped back down.

Shaw grabbed Root's bag off the floor and looked through it. A couple of infused artifacts, a change of clothes, a gun, the ugliest pair of sunglasses Shaw had ever seen, and….

"I'm not going to ask why you brought this to a remote town in the middle of nowhere on a trip to rescue an ancient god," Shaw said as she took out the dildo and harness Root had neatly tucked in their own smaller bag. She'd even brought lube. Talk about planning ahead.

"What else was there going to be to do around here with no internet?" Root mumbled, still not fully recovered.

Shaw pulled her shirt off over her head. "Did you plan on having me show up before you even came here?"

"I'd hoped, but if not maybe there would have been someone in town to have some fun with. The chief of police maybe."

"At least you have good taste." She fumbled with the strap-on harness in the lantern light. Somehow in all those times she and Root had fucked they'd rarely had the opportunity to try out toys. Their trysts had always happened spontaneously, sometimes starting out in the field on one of Shaw's missions and ending up in a shitty motel where they'd fuck until they were spent and then both leave quickly. Even if their current situation was temporary, it felt different.

Shaw climbed on the bed and knelt over Root, a knee on either side of her hips. "You need another minute?" she asked as she slicked the toy with lube.

"Mmm, start without me. I'll catch up."

Shaw rolled her eyes. "If you fall asleep I'm putting you back out the window."

"Oh trust me, sweetie, I'm not planning on falling asleep." Her voice was slurred, but she didn't sound like she was tired.

Shaw planted her hands on either side of Root's body and leaned over her, letting the tip of the toy graze Root's back ever so gently. Root twitched under her and her breath came out in a hiccup. Shaw smirked and rocked her hips back and forth a few times, rubbing the toy all over Root's tattoo and leaving it glistening with lube. They were both going to need a shower after this, and Shaw might need new sheets. What would Doris think of _that_ request?

Root didn't look like she was getting any less limp anytime soon, so Shaw figured she'd have to improvise. She grabbed a pillow from the top of the bed and poked at Root until she lifted herself up enough for Shaw to shove it under her hips.

"Is your god still watching all this?" Shaw asked as she rearranged Root's legs so she could get between them properly.

"Very much so. I think She's taking notes on all of it," Root said into a pillow. She pushed her hips back towards Shaw. "Wanna show Her how it's done?"

Shaw ran her fingers over the curve of Root's butt and then down between her legs. "Do gods even have a sex drive? Can they get turned on?" The fact that gods could turn Root on was abundantly clear as Shaw slid two and then three fingers into her and pumped them in and out a few times. Root might be relaxed, but she was definitely still very ready.

"Not the way we can." Root's breath came out in a hiss and she pushed back into Shaw's fingers. "She doesn't have the right biological wiring for that, but the bond between us translates some of what I'm feeling back to Her in a form She'd understand."

"Hmm." She wasn't really into the idea of someone watching her fuck, but a god watching her fuck Root? Being able to feel exactly how much of an effect she could have on her? Yeah, it was weird, but in a hot way. "Guess I could be into that."

She withdrew her fingers, which got a whine of disapproval from Root, but the whine turned into a moan halfway when Shaw guided the tip of the strap-on into her. She pushed forwards, slowly, making sure Root felt every centimeter of it.

"Fuck," Root breathed out. "How did we never get around to this before?"

Shaw grunted in agreement and rolled her hips forwards once. She smoothed a hand up Root's back and watched the tattoo ripple beneath her fingers. Root must have recovered more because she propped herself up on her forearms and pushed back into Shaw's thrusts, their rhythms matching up easily. And fuck it was better than Shaw had imagined. All the little things it was hard to get just right while fantasizing--the high-pitched breathy moans, the way Root's skin shimmered with sweat, the wet sounds from between their bodies--were perfect.

There was only one way this could be even better.

"You up to sitting up yet?" she asked, slowing down to let Root answer.

"Right now?" Root sounded incredulous.

"Just trust me, okay?"

She pulled out and sat back on the bed. "Come here, this way."

Root caught on and crawled over to her. Shaw had never been more pissed about the shitty lighting situation than now as Root lowered herself down onto the strap-on from this new angle, her face slack with pleasure. Root wrapped her legs around Shaw's waist, pulling them tightly together and leaned down to put her mouth near Shaw's ear.

"Don't keep a lady waiting, Sameen."

Shaw's hands found their way to Root's butt and guided her movements as she rolled her hips up into her. Root's breath hitched and her hands clutched desperately at Shaw's back.

It was beyond fucking perfect this way, Shaw thought as they rocked into each other. Now she could lick the sweat off Root's collar bone, squeeze one of her breasts, leave a revenge bite mark on her neck, claim her mouth. And now Root could claw at her back and moan right into her ear.

Root tried to say something but gave up and let her forehead drop onto Shaw's shoulder as they pushed each other closer and closer. Root's hands scratched painfully, wonderfully, down her back and Shaw couldn't help but imagine her god watching them, watching her make Root fall apart like this and she was coming before she'd expected and Root was tense and moaning in her ear and Shaw would have congratulated them both for managing to come at the same time if even a single one of her brain cells had been functioning correctly in that moment.

Somehow they'd slumped over sideways in the middle of all of it, and were lying on the bed, still locked together. Root nosed at her neck and hummed in contentment.

"Well, that was fun."

"Maybe next time she can join in for that part, too," Shaw said faintly, her mind still blown from the rollercoaster of an orgasm. Fuck had that felt good. That tingling buzz through her veins that she'd gotten when she'd touched Root's tattoo earlier might be the only thing that could make it better.

"You really are into it, aren't you?" Root asked with fond amusement. She bit Shaw's earlobe. "Me, too."

They took their time untangling themselves from each other, way more than usual. Shaw felt heavy and warm, ready to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be crazy, she predicted. She was going to need all the rest she could get.

* * *

* * *

She stumbled her way into the shower first, only doing the bare minimum to clean up, and then waved Root in to take her turn. The water had cleared her head enough to think properly which was why she frowned when Root came out of the bathroom fully dressed.

"You're going back tonight?" She'd figured Root would stay in one of the other rooms again. "There's a blizzard going on in case you hadn't noticed. Won't your demon horse throw a shoe or whatever?"

Root picked up her bag. "Bacchanalia went home to rest."

"She got back to the house by herself in a blizzard?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, she's...like Grim sort of--though not quite the same species--but from the same place. She needs to go back to her world every now and then."

After everything else Shaw had learned today, this one didn't even faze her in the slightest. Root _would_ have a magical goth horse. There was something else more important right now though.

"You're going to _walk_ all the way back in a blizzard in the middle of the night wearing a jacket?" Shaw asked in a tone that hopefully let Root know exactly how dumb she found the idea. "That's fucking stupid, even for you."

Root shrugged. "It's easier to sneak out at night."

"And pointless if you die halfway back." She could see from the set of Root's shoulders that she wasn't going to budge on this one. Except…. Except maybe there was something that would make her stay, if Shaw was willing to play that card.

"You can stay here tonight."

"Shaw, I said I'm--"

"No, I mean _here_."

She tried not to think about what the expression on Root's face might mean. What mattered at this second was keeping her from being an idiot and freezing to death. The rest she could deal with after a good night's sleep.

Root put her bag back down. "Are you sure?" Though she was already taking her shoes back off.

"Yeah, but hurry up. I'm tired."

Root didn't push her luck--there were no attempts at cuddling up to Shaw--but Shaw thought maybe it wouldn't have been the worst thing if she had.


	8. The Bargain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens in this chapter.
> 
> content warning for needles...no drugs involved though.

It was the second time Shaw woke up with Root's hair in her face, but this time she had no one to blame but herself. Not only had she asked Root to stay, but given the fact that Root was shoved up all the way against the wall with Shaw pinning her there, it meant _Shaw_ had been responsible for the sleep personal-space-invasion this time.

Neither of them were wearing any clothes, which meant Shaw was pressed up against Root's naked back and her tattoo. She wondered what sort of dreams _that_ would give her. Though Root had said context mattered, so maybe it wouldn't feel sexual when she was asleep.

Shaw lifted her head enough to peek at Root's face. She looked peaceful, deeply asleep still. Probably not having a sexy dream then. Oh well. It did seem a shame to wake her up though.

Shaw traced her hand over Root's hip and up her side, enjoying how soft and warm her skin was. There was a raised patch of scar tissue on her side from an injury Shaw had been partially responsible for, and that she'd also been the one to stitch up.

She'd been on a mission hunting down an unlicensed fuser who also happened to be an aspiring serial killer and Root had shown up out of nowhere like she always did to lend a hand. It had been Shaw's damn shockwave glove that had been the real cause--she'd used it to keep the guy from charging them, but the force of it had clipped Root and knocked her over right onto a sharp piece of metal that was stuck up out of the floor of the half-demolished building they'd been in. Of course Root shouldn't have been out in the open to start with, but she'd never quite gotten the hang of not being reckless.

That hadn't been that long before Fairfield, and the wound had still been healing then. Shaw had stitched it up all nice and neat so it shouldn't have left a nasty scar like the one she could feel under her fingers. Maybe Root had reopened it during the fight (though the healing should have been far enough along by then to prevent that), or maybe it had more to do with her time spent in the bureau's custody. Reopening a healing injury would only have been a mild tactic on the bureau's scale of torture.

Shaw rubbed her thumb over the scar once and moved on, sliding her hand to rest on Root's stomach. It was odd to be holding another person, feeling their body moving with deep, even breaths. It wasn't an experience she'd ever imagined having or even remotely wanted to have, but now that she found herself here with Root, it was kind of peaceful.

There was a knock at the door and she jerked her hand back, afraid for one irrational moment of being caught at something she shouldn't be doing. Root didn't stir when she pulled away and rolled out of bed, taking one of the blankets with her to wrap around herself. She opened the door a crack to see Doris standing in the hall.

"You didn't leave the bowl out," Doris said by way of a good morning.

Shaw thought about slamming the door in her face, but the likelihood that would lead to her having to stay in Root's crappy house eating canned food kept her in check. She grabbed the bowl off the table where they'd left it the night before and returned to find Doris being nosy and peering around the door into her room.

"Well, it looks like you wore her out good and proper then. Will you both be having breakfast here?"

Shaw liked to think of herself as always being prepared and rapidly able to adjust to any situation on the fly--a critical skill in her profession--and yet she was unable to think of a single response and just stared at Doris wordlessly until Doris took the bowl from her.

"There'll be plenty of food downstairs when you're ready," Doris said as she left. "But no need to rush on my account."

Shaw shut the door behind her, erased the entire encounter from her memory, and considered her options. It was barely light out, and it wasn't like she had anywhere she needed to be today. On the bed, Root had rolled over onto her back, her head sprawled to one side and her eyes still shut. Shaw was careful not to disturb her when she got back under the covers. She kept a little distance between them, but she lay down facing Root this time.

After a year of not knowing for sure if she was still breathing, the visible proof given by the rise and fall of her chest was reassuring. It wasn't like Shaw had actively worried about her the whole year, but it had been a little nagging thought in the back of her mind that popped up from time to time. Like whenever she used the energy detector Root had made for her, or how she'd kept expecting Root to just appear out of nowhere one day mid-mission.

Shaw was glad that she finally had.

She drifted back off to sleep and woke up later when Root climbed over her to get out of bed.

"You going somewhere?" Shaw asked, rubbing her eyes with one hand. Her phone had died ages ago and she hadn't seen a clock yet in this place so she couldn't check the time, but by the light coming in through the window she guessed it was late morning.

Root started pulling her clothes on. "I told you, I need to get back to Her. If Decima catches me they'd try to use me to get to Her. It's better if I stay out of sight as long as I can."

Shaw sat up and fished around on the floor for her clothes, but they were out of reach. "And then what?" She got out of bed and grimaced at the cold floor. She'd be glad to be back in the city in her apartment which had lousy heating, but rugs on the floor at least.

"We'll see what Decima does next." Root went to the window, fully dressed now. "I shouldn't have stayed this late."

"You were tired."

Root paused and looked back at her, smiling. "I was." She pushed the window open, letting a blast of cold air in, and climbed out onto the roof.

"Could have at least shut the window after herself," Shaw grumbled. She finished getting dressed and hiding various weapons and artifacts on herself. Root might be okay with staying on defense and letting the enemy attack first, but she was going to get some answers out of Weeks and Garrison, even if it (hopefully) meant more face punching.

There was the unmistakable crack of a gunshot from outside and Shaw was across the room and at the window before she had time to think. She drew in a sharp breath at what she saw in the back yard of the inn below. There were half a dozen bureau soldiers with guns out and in the center of them was Root, on her knees and clutching one arm as if in pain.

"Fuck," Shaw muttered. She grabbed a hoodie off her chair and climbed out onto the roof as quietly as she could manage.

"That's far enough, Ms. Shaw." Shaw froze, searching for the source of the voice. "I wouldn't move if you want her unharmed. We need her alive, but a little damage won't matter. For us, anyway."

She spotted Greer standing at the entrance to the yard, Denton Weeks and a few people she didn't recognize at his side. She crouched on the roof and considered her options. This was a terrible spot to be in, way too exposed. She needed to move, but she wasn't about to push her luck and have them hurt Root more.

She touched the metal ring on her finger with her thumb and felt it pulse with warmth once. The illusory double she left behind wouldn't only look like her, but it would draw attention away from her for a short while, hopefully long enough to cover her. She slipped across the rooftop in a crouch, trying hard not to cause any snow to fall off, and ducked behind the brick chimney. Behind her, a perfect replica of herself crouched by her window still. It wouldn't stand up to real scrutiny, but at a distance for a short while it should be okay. She waited a second to see if there was any response, but Greer seemed to have his attention elsewhere now.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, my dear," Greer said. One of the men by his side approached Root with what looked like some kind of long metal object. He reached out to grab her by the arm and Root's other arm shot out, hitting him in the back of the knee. He fell, hard, but two of the soldiers stepped up behind Root and grabbed her arms, restraining her.

The man got to his feet slowly, and even at this distance Shaw could see he was pissed. He nodded at one of the soldiers, and the soldier roughly pulled Root's jacket off, got a firm grip on her arm, and forced it out straight. The man held the metal object out and now Shaw could see it was a metal cuff, long enough to cover Root's entire forearm. It snapped in place over her arm despite her attempts to pull away.

Shaw had a sinking suspicion that she was about to see Greer's method for controlling warlocks.

"It's a bit of an early model," Greer said, turning to Weeks. "It's tuned to the energy type of her patron, but any energy of that type in the area will trigger it, even if it's not her own." He smiled and it made Shaw's skin crawl. "An unfortunate side effect, but I have a feeling some extra lessons won't go amiss with this one. We're hopeful that with enough time, we won't even have to turn it on anymore. The training it provides is...effective."

Shaw slipped her shockwave glove onto her hand. With her gun she could take down maybe two of them before they reacted, and with the glove she might be able to knock out everyone on Greer's side, but neither was even close to enough. She needed something else.

"You think this little toy will hold Her back?" Root's grin was feral, undaunted. "You have no idea what you're up against."

"A wounded god and her puppet? I don't think we'll have much trouble with you. You are, in fact, the perfect test for this."

The soldiers holding Root backed off and she stood up, eyeing her captives carefully. Shaw didn't see anything change, but Root yelped in pain and fell back down, clawing at her own arm. There were sparks on the cuff, blue and crackling.

Root sat up, breathing hard, and glared at Greer, furious and contemptuous. "Of all the methods you could have chosen, you went with electricity? That won't work twice with Her." She got to her feet again, but her face turned pale and she clutched at her arm again.

"It has a few nasty little surprises, you'll find. The needles you just experienced, and a few others you'll discover in good time. Maybe your god can protect you from some of it, but not all."

A woman standing behind Greer who Shaw hadn't noticed until now stepped forward to say something softly to him and Shaw stared at her. There was something...off about her, a heaviness that tugged at Shaw's memories. She'd never seen this woman before, but that feeling...she'd felt the weight of another being like that before. In Fairfield. The longer she looked at the other woman, the more certain she was that this was the second warlock. There was an aura around her that became clear the longer Shaw looked, like the slightest glow of darkness.

She needed to get Root the hell out of here now, but that had just gotten much, much more complicated.

She slipped her transform glove on as well. Maybe she could use something in the yard to cause a distraction. There wasn't much to work with due to the snow, but maybe that was a possibility? It was too powdery to form walls out of, but if she could blind them with it… But the warlock….

"There's one thing you didn't take into account with this," Root said, rubbing the metal cuff. "You should ask your friend Weeks how much I cooperated with him when the bureau had me as a guest even after all the nasty little incentives they gave me. This cuff only works as a deterrent for someone who cares about the damage it can cause them."

"Oh, fuck." Shaw ducked back out from behind the chimney and slipped her way down towards the edge of the roof, a sinking feeling in her chest.

The air around Root rippled and shimmered like a giant bubble forming around her. Shaw saw a flash as part of the bubble of energy around Root branched off and raced across the yard in a flicker of incandescence. Two soldiers went flying, crashing into the shed at the far end, and then two more on the other side who hit the wall of the inn. Root's face was twisted into a snarl of pain and fury as she rounded on the rest. Another barely-visible tendril of energy swept out from her and lashed towards Greer.

The woman standing behind Greer stepped in front of him and Root's power seemed to fray and fall apart around her. Denton Weeks caught the edge of it and got knocked backwards, but Greer, one of his men, and the second warlock were untouched. When Shaw looked back at Root, the metal cuff lay in pieces around her on the ground and, even though she was swaying a little, she was staring at the other warlock, murder in her eyes.

The warlock took a step towards Root, but Greer caught her arm. "Another time, I think," Greer said. "Bring Mr. Weeks along and we'll regroup. She can't get far."

Root's power lashed out at them again and again, but the other warlock stayed between her and Greer as they retreated and all Root's attacks fell away.

In the yard, the soldiers who'd survived the first attacks were struggling to their feet. Shaw wasn't sure she could take them all down safely, but she didn't see any other options with the way Root was barely staying on her feet. She started to move to the edge of the roof when the shimmering around Root intensified and condensed. Shaw had a bad feeling she knew what was about to happen and threw herself back up the roof, trying to get clear.

The blast knocked her backwards across the roof in a rain of bricks and shingles. Distantly she could hear the glass in the windows shattering. She skidded to a stop with her face in the snow and scrambled to her feet as fast as she could. That blast hadn't been unlike her shockwave glove but easily ten times stronger.

The scene in the yard below was chaos: the soldiers were all down, strewn about like broken rag dolls. Root had collapsed to her knees in the center of the yard.

Shaw slipped off the edge of the roof, hanging from the edge by her hands, and then dropped. The shock of the landing shot pain through her legs, but she ignored it and turned to run towards Root.

"You okay?" she asked even as she saw the problem. The back of Root's shirt was slowly soaking through with blood. "We need to get you out of here."

"I need to get to Her." The pain in Root's voice was obvious.

"Let's move. We can figure it out as we go." She grabbed Root's arm and pulled her to her feet. Root swayed and almost fell again and Shaw cursed and pulled Root's arm over her shoulder. "Lean on me, but we've got to go fast."

The sound of boots on the stone path to the yard sank her hopes of escaping as more soldiers than she could handle with her artifacts came storming in. Maybe if she hadn't needed to protect Root as well…. It was too bad Root wasn't in any condition to sneak away if Shaw could distract them and it'd take a much bigger distraction to let both of them escape and...oh.

Shaw felt like an idiot.

"Grim!"

The black dog appeared out of thin air between her and the bureau soldiers, a snarl on his lips showing off sharp, white teeth. The blue circles were back on his fur, glowing brightly, and, as Shaw watched, he grew larger and larger until he loomed over the yard, as high as the second floor. She'd definitely never seen him do _that_ before.

The soldiers had come to a halt and one of them took a shot at Grim, maybe only out of fear. Grim's fur rippled where the bullet hit and the bullet fell to the ground, useless. The rest of the soldiers opened fire and bullets rained to the ground. Grim lowered his head and growled, a sound that made even Shaw want to back off.

"Come on." She couldn't waste the distraction Grim was providing them. She got an arm around Root's waist and dragged her along towards the remains of the shed in the corner of the yard. The shed had been completely destroyed, leaving them a path out into the rest of the town. They'd almost made it through the ruins when she saw someone coming up to intercept them and had her hand with her shockwave glove up and pointed in a flash.

"It's me." Reese took a quick look around and assessed the situation. "This way."

She hurried after him as fast as she could manage with Root leaning on her and barely able to walk. She considered tossing Root over her shoulder or having Reese do it, but she could feel the slippery blood on Root's back where she had her arm around her waist. She didn't want to risk making it bleed more.

"Is she okay?" Reese asked as they cut across the back of the inn property.

"I'm going to kill them," Root snarled through gritted teeth. "I'm going to kill them all slowly."

"Yeah, she'll be fine if she doesn't bleed to death," Shaw said. "You can kill them later, Root. We need to get out of here first."

The streets were full of people rushing to see what the explosion had been and Reese steered them into an alley to avoid the crowd. They were never going to get out of here like this.

"This way!"

Carter appeared out of nowhere and beckoned them down another side street. They trailed after her through a roundabout series of turns between the houses until Carter came to a halt near a road.

"What the hell did you do?" She looked them over. "She looks like she needs a doctor."

"She'll take care of me," Root said faintly.

Carter looked at Shaw doubtfully. "Are you secretly a doctor?"

Shaw realized Carter had thought Root had meant her, and not her god. "Uh, mostly."

"Carter, I know this is asking a lot, but we need to get out of here for now," Reese said urgently. "The soldiers from the bureau are on a rampage."

"Why are they after you?"

"I promise we'll explain later, but if they catch us right now we'll be dead and then you won't even get to find out."

Carter frowned and then gestured to the street. "I'll get their attention and then you go. But you owe me an explanation later."

"You'll get one," Reese promised. "And thank you."

"Why is she helping us?" Shaw asked when Carter left.

"To say she hates the fact a federal agency showed up here and is interfering with her town would be an understatement," Reese explained. "Also I told her a lot about our relationship with the bureau while you were off with Root."

"You and your weird ability to make friends with everyone. What's with that?"

Reese opened his mouth to answer, but Carter's voice from the street cut him off.

"Everyone, we need to clear the street. Can I have you all move this way? I'll answer any questions you have, but let's move things over here."

"Time to go," Reese said.

Carter had successfully gathered the crowd of people further down the street and none of them glanced over to see the three of them hurry by and out into the fields at the edge of town.

"This isn't the right way," Root protested.

Shaw ignored her attempts to pull away. "You aren't in any condition to walk that far, and if we went that way we'd leave a trail through the snow right to your shitty house."

"Where are we going then?" Reese asked. "She looks bad and I don't think you're going to find medical help in the middle of the woods."

"No, we won't, but I have a really terrible idea."

Shaw didn't think she'd ever felt as exposed as she did on that walk across the fields to the woods. She kept waiting for the warlock to make an appearance and rip them all to pieces. Root wasn't in any condition to fight, and she and Reese wouldn't stand a chance against something that powerful. She felt relieved when they made it to the forest, but only until she remembered how the warlock had chased them through here yesterday. They couldn't afford to let their guard down.

"I hope Grim got out of there okay," she said with a last look back at the town. She didn't think he actually could get hurt, but she had no way of knowing for sure.

"Do you have his disk?" Reese asked.

"Yeah, it's in my pocket." Which she couldn't reach without dropping Root.

"She says he's fine," Root mumbled, her head slumped against Shaw's shoulder. "He went home to rest."

That was a small worry lifted at least, though she wasn't sure if they'd be able to summon him again anytime soon. How long did magic dogs need to rest for?

"Did you ever find out anything from your books?" Shaw asked Reese as they started slogging through the snowy woods.

"Yeah, eventually, even though I had to go downstairs to read."

It took Shaw a second to realize why he would have. She chuckled. "Oops." Root didn't say anything which was probably a bad sign, but at least she was still walking even if she was leaning most of her weight on Shaw.

"I think we're dealing with a shadow."

That wiped the smirk off Shaw's face. "I think I remember those from the training. They're one the really bad ones, right?"

"The most dangerous demon we know of."

"Of course they are. Why would we ever get something easy to deal with?" She readjusted her arm around Root; all the blood was making it slippery. "What'd you find out about them?"

"They're called shadows because they can move as a shadow across surfaces, and kill with their shadow when they're in a more visible form."

"That might explain what happened in the woods yesterday." The wreckage of the trees was still nearby in the woods, though they'd be carefully avoiding it. "What else?"

"There's not a huge amount known about them. Supposedly they're more cunning than other demons. Very rare. Have no qualms killing their own kind. Everything else is speculation."

"Any tips on how to kill them?"

"The only thing I found was a suggestion to avoid them. A very emphatic suggestion."

"Sounds like good advice."

They came to a halt by the now-familiar ring of stumps and Reese tossed his blue stone in without being prompted.

"Where are we?" Root asked, voice strained but laced with anger. "I need to get back to Her."

"We're trying to get you there." Shaw ducked out from under Root's arm. "Sit."

Root carefully sat down in one of the few patches of ground without snow, her hurt arm curled in against her chest. "The other warlock is going to find us if we stay here." She looked up at Shaw. "You saw her, right?"

Shaw recalled the creepy heavy aura on the woman in the yard. "Yeah, I saw her alright." At least Root wasn't threatening to go back and murder people now. She crouched next to her. "Let me see that."

There was a nasty bleeding gash high on Root's upper arm where she must have been grazed by the shot Shaw had heard from her room. Shaw didn't have anything to bandage it with unless she started ripping clothing up, something she wasn't in a hurry to do in the freezing weather and with only one of them dressed for the cold.

Root's forearm was a mess of red needle marks from the cuff, none of which were bleeding anymore, but Shaw could tell they'd been deep and could only imagine how much it'd hurt. Her whole arm would probably be one massive bruise by tomorrow.

"I'm going to wait to check your back until we're somewhere safer." The back of Root's shirt was completely soaked through with blood and Shaw wasn't about to peel it off here. "You ever used that much power at once before?"

"No, She--"

"Shaw," Reese interrupted. "They're here."

Shaw stood up and turned to find Sneezy standing in the circle of tree stumps, their eyes fixed on Root.

"Why did you bring that here?" they asked. "It is not welcome here."

"It?" Root struggled as if to stand up and a stream of angry words came from her mouth that sounded to Shaw sort of like someone trying to sing while gargling. It wasn't the same language Reese and the fae had used, but Sneezy seemed to understand it.

"Am I the only one who didn't major in weird languages?" Shaw asked no one in particular. Silly of her to only strive for fluency in multiple human languages. Whatever Root had said had made Sneezy take a step backwards. Impressive. Maybe she should learn whatever phrase that had been for future use.

"We're here because we need your help," Reese said, stepping in smoothly. "The other warlock, the one you don't care for, is after us."

"And you would lead it right to us?"

"That's not--"

"I'm here to make a bargain with you," Shaw interrupted. That shut everyone up nicely.

"What bargain?" Sneezy asked, their focus trained intently on her in an uncomfortable way.

Shaw pulled the metal ring off her finger and held it up. "You want this, and now I know why. Take us to where her god is, quickly, and with no tricks or temporal bullshit, and it's yours."

"We could be convinced to make an exception in your case, but not for her." Sneezy motioned at Root. "Though perhaps if you had the artifact that one came from we could find a way."

Shaw held back a smirk. If they were willing to offer terms at all then it was only a matter of negotiation. "Obviously I don't have the original artifact on me. Bureau kind of frowns on that sort of thing."

"But you know the human who has it. Their name could be worth something to us."

"That's not on the table. I have a...prior agreement that would get in the way." There was no way in hell she was giving up the name of one of the crafters she bought from. "However, if you can deliver on your side of things, I'll give you my word that when we finish in this town, I'll do everything in my power to get your artifact back for you."

Sneezy didn't answer right away, their strange eyes blinking at her silently. Shaw held eye contact with them, her ears straining to hear even the slightest hint of a warning that the other warlock or bureau soldiers were catching up.

"You will give us the ring and do everything in your power to get us back the artifact it was made from, and in return I will escort you back to where her god is trapped. That is the deal?"

"You'll escort us back without any of the ten-years-pass-in-five-minutes-while-we're-walking crap," Shaw corrected.

"We'd like to arrive on the same day we left," Reese clarified. "And not spend any extra time in faerie as well."

"That part will not be a problem. We have no wish for either of them to be in our land." Sneezy turned back to Shaw. "Do we have an agreement then?"

Shaw held up the ring. "Yes, but you don't get this until we get there. Think of it as my insurance policy."

"The fae do not go back on their word." Sneezy blinked again and Shaw thought maybe she was catching on to some sort of pattern there. Did they express emotions by blinking? Had that been their equivalent of being offended? "Very well. Our agreement is made. Come this way, quickly."

Shaw leaned down to help Root up. "We have to move now."

"Making a deal with the fae isn't wise, Shaw," Root said as she tried to struggled to her feet. "I thought you knew that."

Shaw hauled her up the rest of the way. "What other options did we have?"

"You could have just left town. They don't care about you and John, not really. And anything they sent after you would be much easier to handle than breaking an agreement with the fae."

Shaw pulled Root's arm back over her shoulder again, maybe a little more roughly than she should have. "I told you, I'm in this mess now and I'm going to see it through. That means keeping you alive so you can deal with this warlock."

Root fell silent as they walked towards the ring of tree stumps together.

"She is badly hurt?" Sneezy asked as they approached.

Shaw glared at them. "Don't suppose you want to help us with that?"

"No, not at all." Sneezy turned and walked away, vanishing as they moved further into the circle. Shaw exchanged a look with Reese and then stepped forwards between the stumps, pulling Root after her.

There was no big change the way Shaw had been expecting, no indication they had done anything other than take a step forwards. She could see Sneezy again, a few feet ahead and she kept walking to catch up with them. As she went, she noticed that things were...different. The forest looked the same, but also alien at the same time, every color brighter and every shape less distinct. It was like walking through a painting of the woods they'd just been in. She glanced back to make sure Reese had made it through, and saw him a few paces behind her, looking around himself in fascination.

"This isn't faerie." Shaw prodded a rock suspiciously with the toe of her shoe. "I've been there, and this definitely isn't it."

"I would not bring a warlock into our realm," Sneezy said without turning around. "And you are not welcome there either, though perhaps we could discuss your banishment again if you return the artifact to us."

"No thanks, I like being banished just fine." She looked up at the oddly colored branches above her, blocking out a sky that seemed slightly too green. "Where are we then?"

"We are in-between our worlds, but closer to yours than ours. Time does not pass differently here, but distance is not the same. We should be at your destination...ah, I'm afraid your system of time measurement is not sufficient for our method of describing time passing."

"Our conversation in the woods took about ten minutes," Reese said. "We've been here about one minute."

"It does not translate correctly, but I believe you will feel as if...twelve and a half minutes have passed when we arrive then."

Shaw rolled her eyes. Why did the fae have to make everything unnecessarily complicated? No, they wanted to be all special and measure time in nonlinear ways like a bunch of assholes.

"You want Shaw to get the artifact back for you," Root said, surprising Shaw who hadn't been sure she was fully conscious. "Does that mean you know how to restore the fae trapped inside it?"

Sneezy regarded her over one shoulder, their head turned at an angle that made Shaw's neck hurt to look at. "No, we have had no success with our attempts to free our kind from artifacts. We believe that if such a thing were possible, only the ones who created the artifacts--the builders as you call them--could enact it, and the builders have locked their realm away so none can reach it." They hesitated and then added, "We cannot help you free your god, but we would do so if we could. We have no quarrel with their kind and they are much preferable to the demon that opposes you."

"She says thank you for that," Root said.

"She can talk to you here still?" Shaw had wondered if the weird in-between world would have cut off Root's contact.

"She could talk to me on any world. Our pact has no limits in that way." Root raised her head and tipped it back so the strange greenish light of the sky bathed her face and made her look as unnatural as her surroundings. "That's why warlocks are so hated and feared by other beings: we can bring the full power of our patron into any world. If I were to go to faerie I would have access to as much of Her power as I do here."

"Oh." The full implications of that settled in. "Do you think Decima and Greer know that? And the bureau?"

"I would imagine that Greer does at least. I suspect the reason his pet warlock didn't attack us is that he's working very hard to keep her secret from the bureau. Everything that happened in this town needs to be blamed on me and no one can know he has a warlock running around with no leash."

Shaw had been wondering about that. "Could you tell how strong she was? Or her patron anyway."

Root stumbled a step and whimpered in pain when Shaw's arm tightened against her back to brace her. She took a second to collect herself, face pale and jaw set and then started forwards again.

"I couldn't tell, but if it's really a shadow then she'll be stronger than me. My god is trapped in this world which means Her powers are diminished from being here and those diminished powers are all She can share. If She could get free and go home, it would be different."

"Sounds like that's not happening." Shaw looked ahead at where Reese was walking next to Sneezy, deep in conversation. "We need a plan."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"I'm still thinking about it."

Mostly she was thinking about Fairfield. She'd shot at the warlock there only once, because it had stopped her bullets mid-air and sent them right back at her. She'd been lucky to dive into cover in time. It had done the same with a rocket from a jet and the jet hadn't been nearly as lucky. In the end, the army had sent in twenty soldiers on foot to douse the warlock with liquid nitrogen. All the soldiers died, but it had been enough to freeze it for long enough for the jets to destroy it with napalm.

"It's not that the warlock in Fairfield couldn't be damaged," Shaw said, thinking out loud now. "It's that nothing could reach it to damage it. Once they froze it for a second, it was vulnerable."

"I don't suppose you have a cache of liquid nitrogen lying around?" Root asked.

"Must have forgotten to pack that."

They fell silent and Shaw used the time to look around the strange forest more. The snow on the ground had vanished and the temperature had gone from freezing to unnoticeable without her registering it. There was no sign of any animals in the trees though, no bird calls or squirrels running through branches. Whatever this world was, nothing other than the strange equivalents of the earth trees and plants lived here.

"Thank you," Root said, pulling her attention back.

"What for?" Shaw asked suspiciously.

"The bargain you made was to save my life. You didn't have to do that, but you did. So thank you."

"It was to protect all of us," Shaw corrected her. "If you die, we have no shot."

"Of course."

Shaw thought she could see Root smiling. She frowned.

"If we make it through this, remind me to thank you properly. Several times." Root almost managed to sound suggestive despite the strain in her voice. Only Root would try to flirt while she was bleeding to death slowly.

"Somehow I don't think I'll have to remind you."

Sneezy and Reese came to a halt ahead of them and Shaw stopped when she caught up.

"The place her god is trapped is a short walk that way." Sneezy pointed. "I do not think they would welcome me closer." They turned to Shaw. "The ring?"

Shaw nudged Root. "Are we actually close?" It wasn't that she thought the fae wouldn't be true to their word, it was just that she didn't trust their word was what she'd been led to believe it was. They loved a carefully phrased loophole.

"Yes, I can feel Her close by."

Shaw slid the ring off her finger and handed it to Sneezy. "When I get the artifact, do I bring it back here, or will any faerie circle work?"

"Any will suffice. A bargain with one of us is a bargain with all of us." They blinked three times at her. "You may not be liked by us, but you are respected."

"Don't make this weird."

Sneezy turned to look at Root. "You we never liked nor respected."

"But you're scared of me." Root's smile showed off her teeth, like a snarl. "Even before."

Sneezy didn't comment and turned to Reese instead.

"I know how _I_ pissed them off, but what did _you_ do?" Shaw asked Root quietly.

"Oh, nothing much. Maybe we can exchange stories someday."

"Maybe. Let's go. They could take a while." Reese was still talking to Sneezy.

Sneezy hadn't been lying because after about a minute of walking they came out of the woods into the clearing. This time, the house was visible to Shaw, a grey hulking thing against a darker grey sky.

"Do you have _any_ medical supplies at all?" Shaw asked as they got closer.

"I have some bandaids."

"Better than nothing, but not by much."

They were halfway across the front lawn when Root pulled away.

"Not inside. I need to go there." She pointed at the large tree in front of the house.

"Do I even want to know why?"

Root didn't wait for her and stumbled her way across the yard towards the tree. Shaw followed, staring up at the bare, white branches. There was something about it that seemed familiar, like a drawing she'd seen or….

Or like the tree in Root's tattoo. Shaw remembered the way Root had run her hand over the branch back in the piano room. Guess that answered one question.

"Is the tree the artifact?" she asked when she caught up.

Root collapsed at the base of it and sat with her back to it. "No, living things can't be artifacts, but the artifact is encased inside the tree. Help me with this." She tugged at her shirt.

"What for?"

But Root was pulling at her shirt and probably going to make things worse so Shaw pulled her boot knife out and went to help. "This is ruined anyway." She pulled the shirt away from Root's skin and sliced through it. There was so much blood on Root's back she could barely see her tattoo, but it didn't look like it was still bleeding at least. Shaw cut through the back of her bra as well, figuring it was already ruined and probably painful as hell right now. Root sighed in relief and shed the remainder of her ruined shirt.

"Now what? Wait, no way are you going to--" Shaw actually cringed when Root pressed her back up against the tree trunk. She wasn't clear on if it was an open wound, but _still_.

Root relaxed back against the tree, her face slack. "This will speed things up, I promise."

"Are we in a rush?"

"Potentially."

"Here." Reese had snuck up on Shaw and was holding his coat out and looking at the ground.

"Oh, right." Probably not good for Root to be half naked in the freezing cold. She draped Reese's coat over Root.

"Do I even want to know?" Reese asked.

"Her god's artifact is in the tree."

"That makes about as much sense as any of this."

"How'd your date with the fae go?"

"Not as well as your date with Root last night."

Shaw let it drop. "Can you keep an eye on her while I go find her supposed bandaid stash?"

Root opened one eye. "They're in my room, in the bag."

The house seemed even more decrepit this time, like it was actively decaying around Shaw as she moved through it. Root's room was dark, and Shaw had to pull the sheet-curtain open to find her bag. Root hadn't been kidding that she only had bandaids, and just the cheap drug store type but with some goth-looking cartoon cat on them. Shaw made a disgusted noise and dug around more to make sure she hadn't missed anything. In the end she found a relatively clean looking sheet to cut up for bandages and a bottle of water from the kitchen. The tacky bandaids she left where she'd found them.

Neither Root nor Reese had moved when she got back. Root still had her eyes shut and Reese was on full alert as he looked out over the field towards the road.

"Let me see your arm again," Shaw ordered, kneeling next to Root. "Also buy some fucking disinfectant."

Root smiled faintly. "I'll consider it."

There wasn't a lot Shaw could do, but she cleaned and bandaged the graze wound on Root's arm, and then the needle punctures just to be thorough. Her back would need to be cleaned, too, whenever she was done with...whatever was going on.

"I hate to break up your tree...thing, but you said we might be in a rush?"

Root nodded, eyes still shut. "The other warlock knows what Her powers feel like now. She'll be able to track them here eventually."

"How soon?"

"Well, I could probably do it in an hour, so let's say two or three for someone else."

Bleeding against a tree and unable to stand on her own and Root was still arrogant. Shaw rolled her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot around Root these days.

"How long is this going to take you?"

"I can probably go inside in another twenty minutes. This is just to deal with the worst of it. The proximity helps a little."

Shaw turned to Reese. "You can wait inside if you want. I'll bring her in when she's done." It was really damn cold and now he didn't have a coat either. No need for all of them to freeze to death.

Reese nodded and departed without a word, leaving Shaw alone with Root. And Root's god of course.

"What does your tattoo feel like when she's healing you like this?"

"Hmm, warm. Safe." She made a face. "And a little itchy."

"Does it still hurt?"

"Yes, but it's...distant. I'm not sure how to explain it." Root sighed. "My pills were in my jacket."

"You don't have any extras here?"

"I was running low. I kept meaning to rob the pharmacy, but I never found the time." She opened her eyes a crack. "Come sit next to me. We can share." She rustled Reese's coat.

"I'm fine."

"Sameen."

Shaw sat. Root rearranged the coat so Shaw had a corner of it to pull over herself. It was barely an improvement, but Root herself was warm against Shaw's side.

"Shaw?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you quit the ISA?"

That definitely hadn't been the question she'd expected. "Even before you told me they deliberately caused the massacre at Fairfield, I didn't like how they handled it. Or how they handled a lot of things. We were supposed to deal with the dangerous problems that needed to be cleaned up quietly, but more and more we were getting sent after fusers who maybe had one weak artifact that barely worked and hadn't done more than rob a store. We were getting sent in with orders to kill and confiscate their artifacts. It was a waste of our time and...a waste in general."

She hadn't been one to question the necessity of having to kill dangerous fusers, but Reese had been unhappy with their later assignments, and after their years working together she'd come to trust his sense of right and wrong more than the bureau's. Fairfield had made it clear that she'd been right to do so.

"And why did you come back to look for me after Fairfield?"

The question felt like a trap. "We were fighting together. You always go back for your team."

Maybe Root had heard the uneasiness in her voice, because she explained, "She's curious about you. She says She's sorry if She was being invasive."

"Oh." Shaw wasn't sure if it was a good thing to have a god curious about her. "I guess I asked a lot of questions about her first."

"She doesn't mind. I think She likes you."

The fact a god from another universe who she'd sort of had an almost threesome with the previous night liked her was not something Shaw wanted to examine too closely while trying to do other important things like keep a warlock from killing all of them in two hours.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked. "Can you try to _not_ get yourself killed fighting this warlock?"

"It's going to be a miracle if we win at all, but I'm not planning to die if I can help it, of course."

Shaw thought about the look on Root's face back in the yard before she'd unleashed her god's powers, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she gazed out at the snowy landscape and watched her breath mist in the air. It might have been picturesque in other circumstances. She poked at the icy top of the blanket of snow with one finger while her mind went through their situation over and over, looking for a solution. All this snow lying around and no way to freeze the warlock with it. Her transform glove couldn't do what they needed for that, and definitely not fast enough. There had to be another way.

"I think we can go back inside now," Root said eventually. She got back to her feet on her own and put Reese's coat on properly. "Who knows, maybe the big lug thought of something while we were out here."

"About that--" Shaw got to her feet and dusted herself off. "--I think I might have an idea."


	9. Intent

"You get injured more than Reese, and that's saying a lot." Shaw carefully wiped the damp cloth down Root's back, leaving a smear through the blood. She wasn't sure how Reese hadn't managed to get impaled by a demon or concussed by a pissed off spirit on this job yet, but maybe Root was hogging all the dumbass energy in the area.

"This is only going to get worse when the warlock shows up," Root pointed out. She winced when Shaw wiped another line down her back. "I'm not sure how I'm going to fight her. You saw how none of my attacks hit her?"

"Can hers hit you?" Shaw tossed aside the cloth she'd been using and reached for a fresh one. Root's back wasn't bleeding anymore, but there was an impressive amount of dried blood caked on it. Below the blood, Root's tattoo was red and irritated again, though there was no sign of an open wound. All of Shaw's medical supplies were back at the inn which might as well have been the other side of the world currently.

"I'm not sure. If she'd given me even a small demonstration of her power it might have given me an idea." A choked whimper cut her off as Shaw moved on to a new area, and her fingers clenched hard in the sheets.

"You need something to bite down on?"

"You're the only thing I like biting."

Shaw laughed before she could stop herself. "Yeah, I noticed, and so did the bad guys." She fished around in the pile of clothes on Root's floor until she found a pair of jeans with a belt threaded through them.

"That might explain why they were waiting for me outside your room."

"We probably should have thought of that." Shaw handed her the belt. "Here."

"I can think of much better uses for this." Root toyed with the belt.

"If we get through this alive then maybe we can try some of them out." She dipped the cloth in the basin of water she'd set next to Root's mattress. The water was pinkish now from the blood.

"It was worth it," Root said quietly.

Shaw looked down at the mess of Root's back, and the bandages on her arm. If that cuff had worked on her she might have been on her way back to the bureau's cells, this time as some type of experiment. "I'm starting again," she warned. Root didn't seem to have any intention of actually biting the belt, so Shaw started anyway. She wiped down the tattooed tree trunk, watching it reappear from under the dried blood.

"Could we just take the artifact she's stuck in out of the tree and make a run for it?" she asked.

"I thought about that, but I haven't found anything that can even make a dent in the trunk. I think someone must have used an artifact to harden it."

"Bet a chainsaw would still work. Not that we have one."

"We'd have to stop running eventually." Root sounded tired. "I don't think Greer would give up. Besides, I thought you were more of the turn and fight type of girl."

"I am," Shaw agreed, tracing a branch with the cloth. Just this morning she'd been thinking about going on the offensive against Decima and the bureau, but that had been before she'd seen what had happened when Root had tried to fight back. It was one thing to put her own life on that line, but she hadn't enjoyed watching that.

Root started squirming when Shaw moved to a new patch, another horrible noise dragged from her throat. "Hold still. And bite the fucking belt already."

There was a knock on the door frame and Shaw turned to see Reese. He stared at Root's back for a second and then pointedly looked away. "Uh, just wanted to tell you I'm taking off now."

"About time." Shaw finished cleaning the area around Root's right shoulder blade. Root had gone dead silent and hadn't moved an inch since Reese had shown up, even if Shaw could tell she was still in pain from the tension in her body. Guess she wanted to seem tough in front of Reese. She prodded Root in the side of her leg. "You got any last minute advice for him?"

"Be polite," Root suggested. "And patient."

"We don't have time for patience," Reese pointed out.

"If you're not patient then you might as well not go at all." Root flinched and pressed her forehead down into the mattress. Shaw could hear her shaky breaths and drew back. She could get not wanting to look weak in front of someone else even if she thought Root was kind of being an idiot at the moment.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Reese said. "You two be careful while I'm gone. And take this." He handed Grim's artifact over to Shaw. "Still no answer, so if anyone is going to summon him it's going to be you."

Shaw took the disk in her hand and looked at it doubtfully. "We can't count on it working then."

"He showed up for you at the inn."

"Yeah, but only because he was already here." Shaw closed her hand over the disk. "I guess we'll see."

"Good luck, Lurch," Root said with a little wave.

"I'll see you two soon." He sounded firm about that, like he could make it true by saying it.

Shaw waited until his footsteps died away before she resumed cleaning Root's back. "Anything else we can do before they get here?"

There hadn't been much of a plan they could make since they didn't have many options. Reese's little field trip was the best shot they probably had and there was no guarantee it would work at all. Shaw had searched through the house for anything useful, but hadn't found a single thing that would be any more helpful than the weapons she already had.

"Yes, but...." Root sounded uncertain. "She needs my help doing it."

Shaw used a fresh cloth to pat Root's back dry as best she could. "I just finished cleaning you up and you want to make this worse before the fight even starts? Can't your god do anything on her own?"

"Very little. Passive observation and knocking out the power for the bureau camp are about Her limit unaided. She needs me for this next part." Root sat up slowly. "And it won't be nearly as bad as earlier today."

Shaw wanted to protest more, to point out that Root was already hurt and likely to get even more hurt in the upcoming fight, but she stayed silent. Even if she tried to stop her, she wouldn't put it past Root to sneak off and do it anyway. "I'll be right back."

She took the basin and cloths to the bathroom and poured the water out. She left everything on the floor--cleaning wasn't something she was particularly in the mood for--and washed the blood off her hands. The cut above her eye looked the same as it had the last time she'd seen it in this cracked mirror, a reminder that in a fight with a less powerful demon weakened from travelling between worlds, she had still almost died from a single, minor injury. Now she was going to have to let Root go out there and face almost certain death because she was a puny human who the warlock could kill without breaking a sweat. Hell, even Reese was more useful than she was right now.

There had to be something more she could do.

Root had lain back down when Shaw returned, but she raised her head to look at her. "Hey, sweetie, wanna give me a hand?"

"With what?" She tried to keep her frustration out of her voice, but she saw Root's expression twitch in response.

"You know, Sameen, there's a good chance I would have bled to death before I made it back here without your help."

"Don't patronize me." Stupid Root and her stupid ability to figure out what was going on in her head.

"I wasn't trying to. There's a reason that out of all the agents in the ISA you were the one I approached. Several reasons, actually." Root sat up fully, facing her. "Your ability to improvise was one of them. I think it's why you were so good at the job. There's still so much we don't know about unnaturals, always new types of problems popping up, and yet you always took it in stride and reinvented the rules to work in your favor."

"Except in Fairfield. And now." Warlocks weren't something she could improvise her way around.

"This fight hasn't even started yet, and you always come up with something in the end and you always survive. That's one of the other reasons I chose you."

"And here I figured you just wanted to get me in bed."

"Well, that, too." Root bit her lip and smiled. "Speaking of which…."

"You want to have sex _now_? You're--" Shaw waved an arm at Root's injured state. "And there's a hostile warlock trying to hunt us down."

"She hasn't found us yet," Root said as if that made it all okay. She started sliding her jeans off down her legs. "We still have at least another hour or two, and I need a distraction while I help Her out with the weather."

"The weather." Shaw looked out the window at the gloomy afternoon sky. A few rays of sunlight had pushed through the clouds, making the day a little brighter. "How's the weather going to help?"

"Two ways." Root held up two fingers. "We'll add to the overcast as much as we can to help reduce sunlight which will help reduce shadows. If this demon can really attack using its shadow this will help limit it." Root put one finger down. "And we're going to make it foggy again like the other day. It might level the playing field a bit which would only work in our favor."

"That's not a bad idea." It was a shame she didn't have infrared goggles with her.

"Exactly. So come over here." Root crooked the finger she still had up and grinned.

* * *

* * *

"Don't you have to concentrate on doing warlock-y things?" Shaw asked as she kicked her shoes off. She took her shirt off as well, but left everything else on.

"No, this way with your back to the window," Root said when she tried to sit down on the mattress. "And only partly. It's...a partnership, and She can drive if She needs to even if the power is going through me."

"And you're okay with that? With letting a god use you that way?"

Root's face had an edge of that glow Shaw had seen on it when her god had been making her writhe. "Oh, definitely. It hurts right now because of the way She's trapped, but it also feels...powerful." Root shuffled over to where Shaw sat, straddled her legs, and settled into her lap. "She reaches right through me and opens me up wide." She tugged one of Shaw's hands up to her breast. "She pushes into me with Her energy and floods all my senses." A slight moan escaped her as Shaw sucked a mark into the side of her neck. "All that power running through my veins, and Her presence touching every fiber of my body." She leaned into Shaw's hand and brushed her cheek along Shaw's so she could murmur right into her ear. "She takes me so completely, so thoroughly, and leaves me always, always wanting more."

None of this should have been remotely hot, and yet Shaw was extremely aware of how turned on she'd gotten just from a little groping and dirty talk. She didn't even care if Root was making it all up or exaggerating it for the effect, because the effect was that she very badly wanted to pin Root up against the wall and fuck her until she screamed her throat raw. And then trade places.

She tugged Root's head back by her hair so she could claim her mouth and nip at her lip. Root's lips parted for her tongue and Shaw smirked into the kiss. Root's god wasn't the only one who could push things into her. And speaking of which….

She stroked her fingers along the inside of Root's thigh, teasing them higher and higher. Root's hands gripped her shoulders hard when she finally touched her, but some of the sounds coming out of her were closer to pain than pleasure and Shaw hesitated.

"You okay?"

"It hurts," Root hissed, nails digging into Shaw's back. "My back, when it's already raw like this, channeling power from Her hurts." She met Shaw's eyes. "Don't stop. Please."

"Okay, I won't."

A look of relief crossed Root's face and she pressed herself down on Shaw's fingers. "Please," she said again.

Shaw went back to work, touching her gently at first and then with more purpose. She grunted in approval at how wet Root already was beneath her fingers (had her god been multitasking?) and nipped sharply at her neck, a small pain to distract from the larger one. Root clawed her shoulders to ribbons and bit down hard on her shoulder to stifle a cry that Shaw wasn't sure she was the cause of.

But apparently she really _was_ the only thing Root liked biting.

"What did you say she did to you?" Shaw asked, her voice a low rumble. "Spreads you wide open?" She broke off from touching Root and placed a hand on the inside of each of her legs and forced them apart, as wide as Root could manage in this position. "Pushes into you with all her power?" She couldn't remember exactly what Root had said, but she figured it didn't matter that much. She definitely had Root's undivided attention as she pushed into her with two fingers, nice and slow. Shaw tilted her head to one side, watching how Root's body took her fingers in. "Though that's not really _all_ , is it?"

She looked back up to meet Root's eyes as she pulled out and added a third finger. Root's mouth opened in a silent moan and her eyes fluttered shut. Shaw watched every little expression on her face as she worked her fingers in and out a few times. Root felt so good around her fingers and if it hadn't been for that damned tattoo Shaw would have pushed her back on the mattress to get better leverage to really fuck her thoroughly. She contented herself with some harsh thrusts and a flick of her thumb that drew a choked cry out of Root.

"What does she do next, Root?" Shaw asked as she fucked her slowly but firmly. Root's hips were swaying as she tried to urge Shaw faster, but Shaw only slowed down more. "Root? What does she do next?"

Root's eyes opened a little and she looked down at Shaw, her face and neck flushed red. She didn't look like she was in pain anymore, or if she was then maybe it had stopped being a bad thing. "She takes me completely." Her voice was low and desperate. "Thoroughly. She leaves me aching and spent but still wanting more." Her fingers tightened on Shaw's back. "Please, Sameen."

Shaw nodded in approval. "I think I can manage that." She steadied Root with her free hand and used the full force of her arm to drive into Root fast and hard. Everything in the world narrowed down to just the two of them in this moment, to the feeling of Root's muscles fluttering around her fingers, and Root panting in her ear, and the taste of Root's sweat when she sucked on her neck. She wished she'd thought to get undressed all the way so she could feel Root's skin press against hers, but there was no way she could stop now, not with Root's moans getting more and more desperate and her hips losing their rhythm as she dangled over the edge. Shaw pressed down with her thumb firmly and Root came, shaking and tensing before collapsing forward against Shaw.

* * *

* * *

Shaw let her take her time recovering. She craned her head to look out the window, and yeah, it was really fucking foggy out. Maybe Root's god had gotten distracted and overdone it a little. She looked back down at where Root was sweaty and breathing unsteadily against her chest and almost made the mistake of putting an arm around her. It figured that the first time she really felt any inclination to hold someone she couldn't.

"Did you two finish messing with the weather?" she asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"Yeah." Root sat up and yawned, her eyes drooping. "All done." She reached for Shaw's belt and Shaw snatched her hand away lightning fast and held it up between them.

"You have actual blood under your fingernails. And dirt. And who knows what else. You are not sticking them in my pants like that."

Root stared at her own hand like she'd never seen it before and then shrugged. "I can go wash my hands?"

"No, just...take a nap. You look like you need it." She wouldn't have objected at all to some reciprocation, but Root looked like she was falling asleep and she needed to be awake whenever the warlock showed up. Speaking of which. "Any updates?"

Root shook her head. "They're still looking for us."

"Get some sleep then. I'll keep an eye out for trouble." She waited until Root curled up on the mattress on her side and then pulled a light sheet over her, careful to keep it from touching her back.

"You're leaving?" Root asked sleepily when she got up.

"Going outside for a second to take a look at the fog." She pulled her shirt back on and grabbed her hoodie off the floor. "Do you really not have another jacket?"

"There's my cloak."

"I'd rather freeze to death." She stomped her feet into her shoes. "I'll be back soon."

Root was already fast asleep by the time Shaw reached the door, and for just one fleeting second Shaw thought about going back and curling up with Root and sleeping there until this whole mess vanished, but the moment passed and she left, pulling the door shut behind her.

There were no lights on in the house and the overcast skies had made it even darker so getting down the sagging stairs was a treacherous endeavor. She stepped out the door onto the front porch and stared. The fog was so heavy she could barely see more than a few feet from the porch, and the air smelled heavy and sharp with moisture. It felt like she'd walked into another world.

She hopped off the porch rather than risking the unstable stairs and followed the wall of the house along until she found herself back at the base of the huge tree. The jagged, white branches disappeared into the fog above her and there was a red stain on the bark near the base where Root had sat.

Behind the tree, the mansion loomed like a leviathan in the fog, huge and oppressive. All those years some family had lived here in luxury while their prisoner had been trapped just outside their walls, alone and cut off from her own world. If Shaw had been in her place, she'd probably have wanted revenge, but Root had said her god had only wanted to go home.

"I'm not even sure why I'm here," Shaw admitted. She sat down on one of the gnarled roots and pulled Grim's disk out of her pocket. It would have been nice to have had him here right now. She always felt better when she was petting him and she never felt dumb for talking out loud to him. She didn't think she could talk to a tree.

The bark on the tree was paper-thin and peeled away in strips easily when Shaw tugged on it. She couldn't even say with confidence that the tree was still alive. There weren't any leaves on the ground around it, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

She pulled her boot knife out and prodded the tree with the tip. "Uh, sorry." Though technically Root's god wasn't part of the tree, only trapped in an artifact that was inside it. The wood was definitely harder than she'd have expected, but she wasn't a tree expert so she couldn't tell if that was normal. She didn't think she'd be able to chop it down with an axe.

She gave up and went back to turning Grim's disk around between her fingers, imagining he was there watching her. "How do you break into a tree?" she asked the disk. "I can pick locks and kick down doors, but even if I had the right tools here, I don't know where in the tree the artifact is or what it looks like." Chopping into the tree would be risky without knowing where the artifact was--she might damage it. What she really needed was a way to peel back all the bark and wood the way she could peel off a single piece.

An idea popped up in the back of her mind. Maybe it wasn't a matter of peeling the bark away so much as rearranging the parts of the tree into a different shape. She pulled her transform glove out of her hoodie pocket and slipped it onto her hand. Before she tried anything with it, she took a second to study it. The little crystal full of blue liquid on the back was unique to all the artifacts Shaw had ever seen, which made sense given what Root had told her about the builders. She'd played around with it a lot when she'd first gotten it, but outside of its uses for fighting, she hadn't experimented much. Now she was wondering if she'd even scratched the surface of what it could do.

Like most infused artifacts, it operated based off of intent, and that intent could be pretty vague. Shaw sometimes only had a partial idea of what she was trying to achieve, like when she'd rearranged the shape and position of all the elements of Carter's gun. There were definitely limits to it--it didn't seem to work on people for starters, and it couldn't work on too much material at once (a building was out of the question, but a single window was fine). It was a little unsettling to think that what she had was only a fraction of the power of the builders. Could they reshape entire worlds?

Shaw turned to look at the tree. Technically it was a living thing (possibly dead now) and she wasn't completely sure what that meant in terms of her glove. Only one way to find out.

"If this is a terrible idea, you should probably find a way to tell me right now," Shaw said to the tree. When there was no immediate response, she laid her gloved hand flat on the tree trunk and concentrated. She couldn't destroy it, or break it apart, but she could reshape it, move the bark and wood aside so it formed ridges around the hole she made up the side of the tree. Watching things tear apart and reform with the glove never ceased to be fascinating. It was like watching the bits of the tree come to life and move on their own, curling out around each other until she was left with a wide open gap that ran from the base to the top of the trunk and gave her a view of the inside of the tree.

"Whatever spell they put on this thing didn't stand a chance," she said with a grin. "Guess it doesn't matter how impossible to cut into it is if I just move it to the side." There was obviously no response from the tree and Shaw felt silly. She rolled her eyes at herself and backed up so she could get a look at what she'd accomplished.

The opening in the side of the tree was like a wound, but a dry one. The tree definitely looked dead to her now that she could see its insides, dried out and rotted in places. About halfway up, right behind where a giant knot had been, something caught her eye. A reflective glimmer, like metal or glass, from something stuck in the wood. That had to be it.

It was too high up for her to reach, but maybe that wasn't a problem. Maybe the real power of this glove was based on how creative the person wearing it could be. She placed her hand on the trunk and focused again. This time her intent was to move the wood from just below the artifact away and to the side so it slowly descended down the tree, the displaced wood forming ridges behind it as it went. Once it was about at eye level for Shaw she stopped and changed her intent to push back the wood in front of it and around it, leaving the artifact sitting in a neat hole in the tree in front of her.

"Too bad Root slept through that," she said to herself.

She peered into the hole in the tree to see exactly what her prize was. Original artifacts could be any shape or size, though they were usually made of wood, metal, or stone. This one appeared to be a cube of some type of black metal that was both transparent and opaque at the same time. She could see iridescent flickers inside it, but couldn't see through it to the other side.

She carefully reached in and picked up the surprisingly heavy cube with both hands. It felt more like glass than metal to her, and was warm to the touch. She felt a faint buzz in her hands where she touched it, more pleasant than painful.

"Now what?" Shaw asked as she held the artifact. Technically she hadn't done anything more than make it easier for Greer to cart this thing off. They could take it and run, but it hadn't sounded like Root would be willing to do that. She'd sort of been hoping that if she found the artifact and held it in her hands that she could figure out how to unlock it and let Root's god out. Unleashing a god with that sort of destructive potential might not have been the best idea, but it was the only way to keep Root from having to bleed to death trying to save their lives so it was an idea Shaw was okay with.

It was also a futile idea at the moment. If the fae had tried and failed to unlock original artifacts, then Shaw stood no chance at all. What had Sneezy said in the woods? If such a thing were possible, only the builders could enact it...

...and she had the only infused artifact made from the life force of a builder. Other than the vanished original artifact it had come from, there was probably nothing else in this world that stood as good a chance at undoing the artifact as this did. What did she have to lose from trying?

"Okay, now I _really_ need you to let me know if this is a bad idea," she said to the cube. "I'm going to give you a minute or two to wake Root up or make lightning strike or something, but if you don't do anything then we're trying this my way."

Nothing changed around her and the cube stayed still in her hands, still buzzing gently.

"For the record," Shaw said. "I have no clue what I'm doing."

When she'd thought about getting inside the tree, she'd focused her intent on moving wood only--and very specifically wood from that exact tree--to avoid damaging the artifact. The issue here was that she didn't know exactly what either the cube or its prisoner was made out of, or if Root's god was trapped in the middle or spread throughout the entire cube. She wasn't sure how to separate things when she didn't know what the things even were. But maybe that didn't matter. Intent was what drove artifacts, and her intent was very clear.

She set the cube down on the ground next to the tree and knelt in front of it. "Here goes nothing." She placed her palm flat on top of the cube and focused all her intent into moving aside anything that wasn't part of a living god. At first, nothing happened, but then there was a loud cracking sound and the cube shattered into tiny pieces under Shaw's hand. The glass on the back of her glove shattered as well and the blue liquid inside ran down Shaw's hand to drip to the ground.

"Shit!" She stood up and looked around. Had she freed Root's god or killed her or just made her prison more inconvenient? How was she supposed to know if it had worked?

Was the air around her shimmering or was she imagining it? "Now would be a really great time to show off some of this power Root says you have."

There was a loud crash from somewhere back in the fog and Shaw spun around. A second later, Root burst out of the fog bank, looking around herself with wild eyes. Her hair was a mess, her pants unzipped, her feet bare, and her shirt was on backwards, so Shaw guessed she'd barely paused before rushing out here.

"Can you ask her what the hell I just did?" Shaw asked.

Root ignored her, staring up and around herself as if she could see something there that was invisible to Shaw. "How did you do that?" Root asked, her voice full of wonder.

"I take it that means it worked?"

"She's free," Root confirmed, a huge smile on her face. "But that's impossible. I tried everything and the fae didn't know and She didn't know and there was no record anywhere." She looked back at Shaw. "She says you did it, but She won't say how."

Shaw held up her gloved hand. "I figured that if what Sneezy said was true then maybe something that used the power of the builders could undo something they made. I think I busted this thing though."

Root nodded as if that made perfect sense. "I can't believe I never thought of that." She frowned. "Who's Sneezy?"

Oh, right. "It's what I've been calling that fae we met. In my head anyway. There was another one who--" She stopped herself, aware of how ridiculous this was in the current circumstances. "Forget it."

Root laughed, a full-throated, happy sound that Shaw was shocked to hear come out of her. For a second it was like Root was a child, staring up at the sky in wonder and delight. She looked back at Shaw, eyes shining. "Thank you."

"You don't have to--"

Root looped her arms around Shaw's neck and brushed a kiss on her cheek before releasing her. Shaw backed away, rubbing at her cheek indignantly. This is what she got for her effort? "Definitely don't thank me like that again."

Root seemed to have forgotten her though and was staring off into space, no doubt communicating with her unseen god. Shaw tried to give her a moment, but got bored of watching her grinning at nothing like an idiot in under a minute.

"Great, so now that that's out of the way, we can roll this warlock bitch and go home, yeah?"

"We're not quite done here," Root said, not turning to look at her. "There's still one more piece of the puzzle, but you have the answer to that as well."

"If you really wanted to thank me, you could cut out the cryptic bullshi--"

"She needs to get back to Her world, but it's been so long and She's weak from being trapped here, so we need to give Her a little help." Root looked over at her. "Do you have Grim's artifact with you?"

Shaw fished it out of her pocket. "Yeah, but how does that help?"

"They're from the same world. Your little artifact there lets you call to Grim in his world and he momentarily opens a portal between our worlds to get here."

Shaw remembered the dark portal and the glimpse of trees. "So when he comes out, she can go back through?"

Root nodded. "She says that should work."

"Here," Shaw held the disk out to her. "Maybe you should do this."

Root shook her head. "He'll come if you call him, Shaw. There's a reason he always comes back, and it's not just John."

Shaw frowned, but knelt down to place the disk on the ground. Graveyards worked better, but this house was its own type of graveyard of a sort so maybe it would do. She placed two fingers on either side of the disk the way Reese always did and tried to focus on opening a portal. Nothing happened.

"I told you, it won't work for me." She started to stand up, but Root stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"What did you think about?"

"Opening a portal for Grim. What else?"

"Think less practically. Grim isn't a dog exactly, but there's a reason he takes that shape. And like many dogs, he adores the humans he's chosen for himself and loves spending time with them. Try thinking about calling him rather than about a portal. He'll do the rest."

Shaw tried to get up again, but Root's hand didn't budge and held her down. "When the hell did you get so strong?" Maybe she was cheating and using her god's powers. Seemed like a dumb thing to experience more pain for...except she wouldn't anymore, would she? She should be able to use her god's power without it hurting her now.

"Shaw, focus."

"Fine." She placed her fingers on the disk again, closed her eyes, and thought about Grim. She remembered what it felt like to pet his smooth fur, and how he sometimes slept on the floor next to her bed while he was here, and how he'd come jogging with her a few times, and--

The rush of air of the portal opening made her eyes fly open and Grim leaped through the dark hole. Behind him she saw the dark forest again, and she could swear she saw a ripple in the air in front of it before it shut. She waited for Grim to come to her and scratched him on the neck, his fur soft and liquid beneath her fingers. "Hey, boy. Thanks for helping us out earlier. I hope I didn't wake you up."

"She's home," Root said from behind her.

Shaw looked over her shoulder at her. "Does that mean you get super extra powers now?"

The air around Root shimmered and the snow near her feet blew back. "Oh, very much so." Her smile now was no longer full of wonder, but eagerness. "I think the other warlock is in for a little surprise when she gets here."

"Any update on when that might be?"

Root blinked and seemed to refocus on reality. "About ten minutes. She found us the second you freed Her."

"You could have mentioned that earlier!"

Root shrugged. "You should get ready to fight. This still won't be easy, but now we stand a real chance at winning."

"You should probably zip your pants up then. And turn your shirt around. And put on some shoes." She patted Grim one last time and stood up. "Let's kick their asses."


	10. One Microscopic Cog in His Catastrophic Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the somewhat dramatic title is a line from red right hand by nick cave, which was on my playlist for this fic

"How do you have a bag full of infused artifacts and not one of them is useful right now?" Shaw asked as they stood on the porch. The fog swirled around them, blocking their view of the road, but that didn't matter for Root anymore. What her god saw, she would know about.

"Most of the ones I have are specifically for dealing with demons--like the one I fixed your cut with--but what works on a demon won't necessarily work on a warlock bound to a demon. You see, most of them work by tuning to demonic frequencies and--"

"Yeah, I get it." It had mostly been rhetorical, but she could tell Root was about to go full nerd on her and that would kill her pre-combat mood. A sideways glance at Root showed she looked legitimately disappointed at being cut off. Maybe she didn't have a lot of people to talk nerdy artifact theory with. "You can fill me in on the rest later, okay?"

Root brightened. "I think you'll like the part about resonance."

"How close are they?"

Root shut her eyes. "They've reached the mailbox."

"Time for me to go then." She searched for the right words, something to effectively sum up all her thoughts about Root and the dangerous fight they were about to dive into. "Don't do anything too stupid."

Root smiled at her. "Stay safe, Shaw."

Shaw hopped off the porch and stepped into the fog. Grim stayed behind with Root, either because Shaw had been successful when she'd tried to silently ask him to or because he'd figured it out on his own. Root was going to need every last bit of protection she could get in the upcoming fight.

According to Root, her god and this shadow demon were most likely evenly matched, but the demon had a few advantages, such as the fact Root's god was still recovering from being locked up for ages and Root herself was exhausted and in pain. Also, the shadow wouldn't care about collateral damage. They were far enough from town that hopefully that wouldn't be too much of an issue, but Fairfield had stretched further than that distance and it had all burned in the end. On the other hand, there was the fact that Greer presumably wanted Root alive, and probably would even more so now that he couldn't capture her god's artifact. Shaw wasn't sure how much of an advantage that was, though. If they could incapacitate Root and haul her off…. Good thing she had no intention of letting that happen.

She could have used Reese's compass artifact now to find her way through the fog to her target, but even without that she had a good idea where to head. There was no way Greer would step into the space where two warlocks were fighting if he had even half a brain in his head, but she couldn't imagine him not being here either--this was his pet project after all. If she were Greer, she'd be waiting up on the road by the mailbox, safely out of the way.

"It's hard to walk quietly in the snow, Ms. Shaw, but I commend your efforts." The voice echoed through the fog. "Tell me, do you know why we're so invested in warlocks?"

The place she had been sure she'd heard his voice coming from was empty, not even a footstep in the snow. He must have been using an infused artifact to throw his voice. She'd seen some similar ones before back at the bureau. It just figured he'd have an artifact that let him monologue.

"It's not just that they're powerful enough to let someone reshape this world, it's that they're powerful enough to reshape all the worlds out there," Greer's voice called from nearby. "Our friend who has a pact with our first warlock is very interested in working with us to that end. They're quite inspired for a demon, really. I think even our world would be better off under their guidance. And our world is only the first, very small step in their larger plan for the entirety of existence."

A black shape appeared in the fog and Shaw realized it was an suv. No one was inside it anymore which meant Greer was out where she could shoot him, probably with a bodyguard or two. They were all wandering blindly in the fog right now.

"Imagine an army of warlocks, all working to one purpose, all able to repeat what you saw in Fairfield, but tenfold."

Shaw left the car and cut a line back towards the edge of the road. At this rate she was going to die of annoyance before she found him.

"But to do that we need funding, resources, knowledge and support your former employers can provide. Denton Weeks is only too happy to get his pet warlocks, though he is a bit bitter that it wasn't his own team who invented the control cuffs, and Senator Garrison wants that power for the country. If this country doesn't have it, someone else will eventually."

Shaw decided it was time to take a calculated risk or go insane from listening to this shit.

"I really could not give a single fuck," she called back into the fog. That should pull any bodyguards towards her. Now she just needed to be faster and smarter than them.

"Oh, but you should," Greer said. "You see, we very much want your friend's powers, but she's somewhat more...resistant than expected. We can condition that out of her in time, of course, but we need an incentive to keep her compliant in the meantime. It occurred to me that you might be just what we need. We'd rather have you help out willingly, but it's not necessary."

Another jackass who wanted to use her against Root. It was clear proof of the weakness created by Root's attachment to her, but as dangerous as that was proving she couldn't honestly say it was a bad thing anymore.

The slightest crunch of snow to her left caught her attention. There was a ripple in the fog and Shaw raised her hand and let loose a focused shockwave. There was a crash as whoever it was got knocked backwards into the ground. Not her stealthiest move, but under the circumstances it was effective enough. The man she'd hit was the same one who'd been outside Greer's car the other day and he was out cold. She'd tried to aim at where the face of a taller man would be and it had paid off. She took his gun off of him and tucked it away.

The question was, had he been the only one?

A boom like thunder split the air and Shaw spun around to see the fog lit up with a sudden glow, like a lightning strike. There was a reddish tinge to the air in that direction and she wondered how the fight was going. Were they really as evenly matched as Root had thought? She had the urge to go over and find out for herself, but at this stage that would only serve to distract Root, and since this was probably their best window for dealing with Greer, she needed to stay on task. The warlock might be more immediately dangerous, but Greer had the long-term potential to be much, much worse.

She turned away from the glow of the fight and back to her mission.

"Maybe you should go check on your friend," Greer's voice called. "She was already badly hurt it seemed so I expect she won't be able to hold out long."

With what Shaw knew about the last year of Root's life, she wasn't too worried about Root's ability to stubbornly push through just about anything. The recklessness with her own safety was perhaps more concerning, but not something Shaw could do much about at the moment. However, since Greer seemed to be in such a sharing mood….

"You know what I don't get?" Shaw called. "Why the hell you killed some random farmer." Killing off a fae who was trying to get information to them made sense, but the farmer and the livestock and the presumably fake summoning circles?

"We knew the local authorities would call in help--" Greer's voice sounded like it was directly behind her, but when she spun around the fog was still. "--but we didn't expect it to be former ISA agents. We had to speed up our time table a bit unfortunately."

She'd noticed that Greer's voice moved around, but now she was realizing that it didn't move around randomly. When it was to her left it wouldn't simply change to being on her right. It would move relative to itself, like an actual person would move. That might mean that his voice was merely offset from him, getting thrown in front of him a certain distance. And based on the way it moved around her, it was likely he knew where she was--possibly with some other damned artifact. Unfortunate, but maybe she could still use that.

"We messed up your frame job," she guessed. "Root was supposed to get blamed for what your warlock was doing."

"If you had approached the bureau on your own with your suspicions about the warlock and your willingness to believe Ms. Root, it might have been detrimental to our cause."

The warlock could have summoned the other demon to scare them off (or offer them a reason to leave like Root had suggested) and had probably been reporting back everything they did to Greer. He must have seen the potential for his plan to go wrong and had found a way to get the bureau involved sooner than expected. And when faced with the possibility of a warlock on the loose, either Weeks or Garrison would have contacted the company that was trying to sell them a method to control warlocks. It might have all gone perfectly if Root hadn't decided to get her involved.

There'd been no other sounds or movements in the fog (aside from the increasingly sinister red glow in the direction of the house), which either meant there'd only been one bodyguard or that the second one was biding his thing. Either way, Shaw was ready to be done with this.

Her shockwave glove only had one function, but that didn't mean she couldn't find creative uses for it. It took about two full seconds to reset between each use, which made it much too slow for her to spin and send a blast out in a circle around herself. With the two second delay she estimated she'd have two shots at most before Greer figured out what she was up to.

Now if it had been her using some fancy voice throwing artifact, she would have projected her voice fairly close to herself--let her opponent rush in and then be right nearby to take advantage of them. Greer wasn't a fighter though, and worse, he thought he was clever, so he wouldn't be near where his voice was, but he wouldn't do anything as predictable as being directly opposite and behind her. Now if she thought of the area like a circle with herself in the center and Greer somewhere on the curve, and then cut the circle into quadrants, the front two quadrants would be too dangerous for him, and he'd likely avoid the parts of the back two quadrants directly behind her so that left….

The first shockwave she aimed slightly behind herself to the right and then the second to the left, quick blasts that she made more about spread than force. The fog rippled away in a straight path after each blast and _there_ , she saw a flash of movement.

She sent out one last blast and this time there was the satisfying sound of a person falling heavily into the snow. She stalked towards it, drawing her gun.

Greer didn't look too injured, but it was satisfying to see him looking disheveled from being knocked on his ass. He appeared unarmed--or at least wasn't reaching for a weapon at the moment--and largely unconcerned.

"Are you going to shoot an unarmed man, Ms. Shaw?" Even in this state he was condescending.

"You think that would stop me?"

"I suppose your violent tendencies _are_ what the ISA hired you for, but what would your friend over there think of you shooting me like this?"

" _Root?_ I take it you haven't met her then. At least outside the time you tried your crappy torture device out on her."

Greer sat upright. "Yes, she does have her own history of violence, I suppose. It's one of the reasons she's such an opportune target for this. No one will care if we...rehabilitate a murderer."

"You've got until the count of ten to call off your pet warlock or else I _will_ shoot you. And it'll be somewhere you really won't like."

Greer smiled. "Oh, I don't think she wants to be called off yet, though, and her patron might not like that. I'm not the one in charge here, Ms. Shaw, and I wouldn't advise you try to hold a demon at gunpoint, especially not that one."

"Not a compelling reason to keep you alive."

"There is one reason you haven't considered. My warlock will know if I die and then her reason for not killing your friend will be gone, and trust me, she very much wants to kill her. She's got her own violent past and I don't think she'd hesitate to wipe out that little town on her way out of here either. She's been wanting to for weeks now."

Shaw made a disgusted face. She wanted to pretend she didn't care about those reasons, but….

She smashed Greer in the temple with the butt of her gun and he collapsed to the ground, mercifully quiet at last. The second he hit the ground, the fog around her peeled back leaving the whole area clear. She spun around to see the warlock out in the middle of the field looking straight at her. She couldn't even tell the warlock was a woman anymore because her entire body had turned into a dark silhouette that made Shaw's mind instantly jump back to Fairfield.

Behind the warlock, she could see Root who was definitely still alive and on her feet, but looked slouched and tired. Going into the fight already exhausted and hurt must have been taking a toll. In the background behind both of them, the house burned, dark smoke pluming up in the air

The warlock raised a hand in Shaw's direction and Shaw moved without thinking, throwing herself sideways towards the parked suv. She made it behind the car, but the car started to crumble and collapse on itself, a darkness creeping over it like a liquid. Abruptly it stopped, leaving the car twisted and ruined. Shaw risked a glance out and saw the warlock had turned back to Root. Shadowy tendrils shot across the ground towards Root like jagged forks of dark lightning, but Grim was there, glowing blue, and the tendrils cracked and vanished at his feet.

Behind him, that shimmering iridescent field surrounded Root and wavy branches, almost impossible to track, stretched out from it and hurtled towards the other warlock. Bright sparks crackled in the air when they reached her and the branches veered off like they'd hit a wall. They hit the trees on the sides of the clearing which more or less exploded in a rain of wood. Judging by the state of the area, this wasn't the first time that had happened in the fight.

Shaw turned back to deal with Greer, but he was gone. She cursed. How the fuck had he managed that? He'd definitely been unconscious and there were no signs of footprints leading away. The suv was still there, but there wasn't a sign of him or the bodyguard she'd knocked out anywhere.

She did a quick sweep of the area, but came up empty. Since there wasn't anything else she could do, she crept a little closer to the warlock battle, trying to stay hidden in the tall grass but wanting a better vantage point in case she could find an opening to strike. From here she could see the tattoo running down the other warlock's arm from shoulder to wrist, a glowing white design on the shadow form she was in. There were gashes all along her arm, almost like Root had been targeting it specifically. Would destroying or removing it keep the warlock from using her power? It was a good thought, but without confirmation she wasn't going to risk an all-in move.

A wave of darkness flowed out from the other warlock, grass burning in its wake. Shaw saw Root size it up and then dodge hard to the side, Grim at her heels. The wave ripped past her and crashed into the forest beyond, leaving the burnt remains of trees hollowed out where it hit. Despite the more limited area of destruction, Shaw was pretty certain that this warlock was much more powerful than the one in Fairfield had been. That one had needed several hits to take down a building, but, seeing how the large, thick trees had been all but disintegrated, she could tell that this one would need far less effort. The fact this shadow demon had taken an interest in earth was not at all reassuring.

Two more waves of darkness lashed out and Root only dodged the first one. The second slammed into the bubble of energy around her and Shaw saw her grit her teeth as she struggled to maintain her protection. The darkness dissipated after a second and Root sagged, breathing hard. If the warlock was trying to wear her down then she was succeeding.

The warlock started advancing on Root, closing in with her hand raised to attack again.

"Fuck it," Shaw muttered and stood up out of the grass. The shockwave that burst from her glove stopped abruptly as it reached the warlock, but it still had the desired effect: the warlock turned slowly to regard her, giving Root a chance to recover.

That roiling aura of malevolence swept over Shaw again. The warlock's face was lost in the same shadowy form as the rest of her, but Shaw could swear she was smiling at her, enjoying this like a cat playing with a bug.

She had the warlock's attention, but that was about as far as her plan had gone. The dark jagged shadows branched out from the warlock and shot across the ground at her at blinding speed. Shaw braced herself to dodge, but an enormous black shape appeared in front of her, glowing with blue light. At first she thought it must be Grim, but no, this was a large horse with a mane and tail of blue flames and glowing eyes. Shaw hadn't imagined ever being glad to see a horse, but right now she could hug the damn thing, fiery hair and all. Bacchanalia pawed the ground and ignored Shaw as she sized up the warlock.

The warlock raised her hand to strike again...and hesitated. She half-turned to look behind them as if something had caught her attention. Shaw heard it then, the soft crystal chimes in the air that she'd first heard the other day. When she turned to look, sure enough, there was the ice elemental in all its shining glory, walking serenely out of the woods, and, at a polite distance by its side, was Reese, looking slightly bewildered.

Fucking Reese and his ability to make friends with even the most reclusive and anti-social beings in all the universes, but damn wasn't she thankful for it right now.

The other warlock stepped to the side, working to keep all her opponents in her line of sight. She raised her hands towards the elemental and...nothing happened. She shook her arm, as if confused by it, and Shaw saw the white ice rapidly spreading up the warlock's arms and legs, so fast she couldn't do more than struggle briefly as it closed over her, encasing her in ice.

Shaw couldn't get them liquid nitrogen, but she'd figured that maybe this was the next best thing when she'd talked Reese into going to recruit the elemental's aid. Hell, it might have been better.

"Quick!" Shaw called to Reese. "Did you get it?"

He held up a metal can and tossed it at her. She caught it and ran towards the frozen warlock. The ice prison wouldn't hold her forever and there was no telling how long it would take her to break free. Up close, Shaw could already see cracks in the ice. She unscrewed the lid of the can and poured the liquid inside all over the ice.

"Root? Your turn." Shaw backed as far away as she could.

Root stepped forwards and a single blue spark shot from her fingers. The liquid (whatever flammable things Reese had managed to scavenge from a town with no gas stations) burst into flames in a massive conflagration. Even standing back, Shaw could feel the heat of it on her skin.

The ice crackled and collapsed and the warlock shrieked, her human body now burning intensely. She'd reverted to her human appearance, and Shaw could see the horrendous way the fire ate away at her. Somehow, beyond all reason, she lifted her head and stared straight at Shaw, her lips curled up in a smile even as the skin peeled away and left her teeth bare. Shaw stared into her eyes and saw the malice there, the need, even now, for destruction.

"Shit. Get back!"

She tried to turn to run, but the explosion happened so fast it caught her before she made it half a step. She had a sense of weightlessness as she flew through the air and then she slammed into the ground hard and skidded several feet on her back. Around her, embers rained down into the grass. She stared up at the sky, trying to force air back into her lungs.

A wet nose pressed against her cheek as Grim snuffled at her face in concern.

"Hey boy, you okay?" Shaw tried to pet him but her arms didn't seem to be taking orders from her at the moment.

"Sameen?" Root's face appeared above her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Though she wasn't sure she could back that up yet. A quick self-assessment revealed that her back hurt like hell as did her ribs and nose. When she breathed in she tasted blood in her mouth and she could feel more of it trailing down her face. The force of the blast must have given her a bloody nose. Or maybe something from the explosion had hit her. Probably best not to imagine what that could have been.

"Can you move?" Root crouched down next to her and reached out to touch her face.

"Yeah, ow! Don't do that." She managed to move her arms finally, the shock of the force that had hit her wearing off. Root helped her sit up and she let her without a fuss because she really wanted to see the results of their gamble.

The place where the warlock had been was a smoking crater in the ground. Shaw was almost grateful for the blood stopping up her nose because she couldn't smell anything and she didn't particularly need to smell burning human flesh again in this lifetime.

"Shaw?" Reese walked up on her other side. "You good?"

"I'm fine." She brushed Root off and stood up slowly. Everything hurt, but it didn't feel like she'd broken anything. Her back and butt were going to be sore from sliding across the ground, but that was a small price to pay.

"Are you okay?" Reese asked again. Shaw was about to snap at him when she realized the question hadn't been directed at her. She looked over at Root and yeah she looked pretty done, but at least she wasn't bleeding all over.

"Nothing serious," Root said cheerfully. "I think I might be bleeding a _tiny_ little bit though."

Okay, so maybe not. Shaw limped a step to the side and, well, Root was going to run out of shirts at this point. She pulled up the bottom of the back of Root's shirt, ignoring Root's protests, and got a look at the damage. There were a couple cuts and one very nasty large gash down the length of her tattoo, oozing blood.

"You attacked her tattoo and she went after yours. I'm guessing it's bad if a warlock gets their tattoo destroyed?"

"Temporarily severs their access to their patron's powers, though it doesn't break the pact. The warlock would just need to get another tattoo." Root squirmed away from her. "We'll need to touch this one up once it's healed, but it's not a big deal."

"I can stitch that up once we get back to town, or maybe get the local doctor to."

"I'd rather not have some random person seeing evidence that I'm a warlock."

"Maybe I can--"

"Shaw!" Reese had left them at some point and gone over to the crater in the ground. "Come take a look at this."

She hobbled over to him; her whole body felt slightly off still, like there was a slight delay in getting it to respond correctly. The ground where the warlock had died was blackened and covered in ash. There was thankfully no smoking remains, but only a single arm, covered in an elaborate tattoo and scorched at the shoulder.

"She can't resurrect from that, can she?" Shaw asked.

"No, she's very permanently dead," Root reassured her. "These are just hard to destroy."

"I'll say." Shaw looked up at the woods. "Your new friend took off, Reese?" The elemental had vanished, and so had Bacchanalia though Shaw couldn't remember when.

"They weren't that interested in the whole thing other than to help clear a demon out of their territory. I thought they weren't going to help at all but they decided it was a very minimal effort for them so why not."

"Can't believe you made friends with an ice elemental."

"I think 'friends' is way too generous a term for it."

A crash to the side made all of them look up at the burning house nearby. Compared to everything else going on it hadn't been the most important thing to think about. Now the floors and walls were falling down and into the wreckage as the fire burned.

"Almost everything I owned was in there," Root said, though she sounded thoughtful rather than upset.

"Pretty sure you left your dildo in my bathroom."

"That's a relief."

"Not to interrupt this...overly-informative conversation," Reese cut in, "but I think we've got company." He pointed back towards the road where a group of people on horses and a cart were approaching. "Maybe we should figure out what we're going to tell them."

"We found the murderer," Shaw said, gesturing at the arm on the ground. "That's what we were hired to do." Grim, she noticed, had vanished again. He deserved a rest, but it was unfair that she couldn't do the same.

"I don't think Carter will be satisfied with that answer."

"Good thing you're buddies now. I need to get Root back to where I have my medical supplies, so you get to be on police duty."

"Gee, thanks."

Carter tried to stop them as they limped across the field.

"She's bleeding," Shaw said, gesturing at Root and not slowing down.

"So are you."

Shaw wiped the blood off her nose with the back of her hand. "Oh, yeah. We both need medical attention. Immediately. Reese can explain everything."

"There's a building that I don't recall ever seeing before that's on fire, half the forest is destroyed, and there's a smoking hole in the ground and you think I'm going to let you run off?"

"If the building didn't exist, was lighting it on fire even a crime?" Shaw asked. "Not, uh, not that we did that. That was the very bad warlock who was just took care of for you. You're welcome, by the way."

"Sameen? I don't feel so--"

Shaw had only a half a second of warning to catch Root as she collapsed in the most dramatic faint that Shaw had ever seen. It almost killed her to hold back on rolling her eyes and not dump Root on the ground.

"See?" Shaw got a better grip on Root and scooped her up. "Blood loss. Medical emergency."

Carter didn't look impressed, but there was no denying the fact they both were genuinely injured and bleeding. "I'm sending an officer back with you two to make sure you get the proper medical treatment and don't vanish." She turned to Reese. "And you have some explaining to do."

Shaw had expected Root to 'regain consciousness' once they were past Carter, but she remained completely limp as Shaw lugged her up towards the road.

"You're such an asshole," Shaw grumbled at her.

Root's act was broken by her shaking with silent laughter. "It needs to look convincing, Shaw. And also I do feel a little light-headed being carried around in your impressively strong arms."

"You're going to get to add a busted ass to your list of injuries when I drop you." She came to a halt at the road by a bunch of police officers who were staring at her in confusion. "Uh, hi."

"Chief wants me to escort them back to town for medical attention." Lieutenant Dani Silva caught up with them. "We'll take the cart since I doubt you're up to walking." Dani looked at Root who had gone still again. "She okay?"

"She will be," Shaw said firmly. She looked back at the ruined forest and the burning house one last time and then headed for the cart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have two chapters of a sequel written. 👀 is that something people are interested in? you can kind of see some of the things left to explore in the world, like Shaw's bargain, the builders, etc.


	11. Parting Ways

The back of the cart was every bit as uncomfortable as Shaw had imagined it would be back when she'd narrowly avoided having to ride in it. She leaned back against a bale of hay which felt horrible against her bruised back, but not nearly as bad as the wooden side of the cart would have. She'd still been holding Root when she sat down and even once they were on their way Root didn't have the decency to move from out of her lap. Yeah, it probably was better that she could sit sideways in Shaw's lap and lean on her so she wasn't pressing her open wound into anything, but still.

Root did stop pretending to be unconscious though and lifted her head up to watch the burning house growing smaller in the distance.

"How bad do you actually feel?" Shaw asked quietly, hoping the noise of the cart would keep Dani from eavesdropping from up front.

"Not fantastic, but I'll live." Root didn't look away from the house, her face expressionless. "I could feel the demon she was connected to, Shaw. It was like nothing I've ever encountered before."

"You worried it'll cause more trouble some day?"

"I'd be shocked if it didn't."

"Greer made it sound like the demon was the one pulling all the strings. He fucking vanished, by the way, right when your warlock buddy cleared all the fog."

"You should have killed him."

"Gee, I wish I'd thought of that. I was planning to, but then he went and mentioned that his warlock would have no reason not to go all out and kill you and the whole town once he was dead."

"Maybe that would have been worth it to get rid of him."

"No, it wouldn't have." Shaw would have smacked her upside the head if she hadn't been injured.

Root fell silent and let her head rest on Shaw's shoulder again. Her fingers tightened their grip on Shaw's shirt and her eyes drifted shut. By the time they got back to town, she'd actually fallen asleep as far as Shaw could tell. Shaw shook her shoulder to wake her.

"We're here."

Dani had stopped the cart further down the road in front of what must have been the local doctor's office. It took another five minutes of arguing and Shaw's best death stare before she agreed to let them go back to the inn instead. She stayed outside when they entered, planning to keep an eye on the whole building in case they tried to make a break for it, which Shaw found amusing since neither of them were in any condition to go on a run through the wilderness right now.

Doris was in the common room when they got inside. Shaw froze. She'd completely forgotten how the day had started and how it was Root's fault that the back of the inn was in ruins.

"You two look like a mess," Doris said, looking them up and down judgmentally. "Try not to get blood on my sheets."

"Uh, so about your yard and all the windows and stuff…."

"Oh that? Nothing a little tidying up couldn't fix." Doris waved a dismissive hand. "Those government boys will be getting a sharp letter from me, though."

"A little tidying up," Shaw repeated in disbelief. Root elbowed her in the ribs.

"I must have taken a woodshop class when I was a girl," Doris said very firmly. "Funny how some things stick with you."

"There's no way that--" Root's elbow landed right on one of Shaw's fresh bruises this time and cut her off.

"We should go upstairs now, Sameen." There was no room for argument in her voice.

Shaw frowned as she looked back and forth between them. "Uh, okay." She let Root lead her away towards the stairs.

"Ms. Shaw." Doris's voice stopped her at the foot of the stairs. "You did a good thing today and we're not ungrateful, but do remember to keep your word."

Shaw stared at her blankly. "Uh…"

"She absolutely will," Root said brightly and then dragged her up the stairs.

"What the hell was that about?" Shaw hissed as they walked to her room. She opened the door, and instead of the shattered windows and splintered wood she'd expected to find, the room was immaculately clean. Even her clothes had been neatly folded and the sheets tucked in. Root's leather jacket was hanging on the chair.

"Root? What am I missing? What word am I keeping to...oh." She lowered her voice. "You're telling me that Doris is one of the _fae_? _Doris_?"

Root limped past her and sat down on the edge of the bed with a grimace. "I thought you knew."

"How would I know that? The detector didn't go off!" Though come to think of it, she'd never used it in the inn. Root had fiddled with it that first night, but she hadn't mentioned if it showed anything. "What type of fae runs an empty inn in the middle of nowhere?"

"One trying to have a quiet life. I think she's one of the fae who traditionally did household chores at night in return for some payment left out. Brownies, I believe, though whether the name was given to the fae and then the stories began or whether the stories already existed and the name was just inaccurately applied to one of the fae is a mystery, just like it is with most stories surrounding unnaturals."

Shaw took her medical kit out of her suitcase, both of which were suspiciously neater than she'd left them. "Does anyone else know?"

"I'd imagine some of the folks in town do. Chief Carter at the very least."

"Does Doris know about you? I mean the whole warlock thing? The other fae knew right away."

"Oh, definitely. Who do you think She got to write me the letter that brought me here in the first place? She and Doris have an...understanding based on years of sharing territory." Root grabbed her jacket off the chair and fished around in the pocket. "Maybe you could use some of these, too, this time." She held up the pill bottle. "Hopefully I don't need them all anymore."

Shaw didn't reach for the bottle. "Hopefully, but hold onto them."

It was a longer process this time because there was an actual wound to take care of that needed to be cleaned and stitched and bandaged and Shaw gladly fell into the work and let her mind focus on it. Root was quiet for the most part, that same reflective quietness she'd had since the warlock had died.

"If you're staying here, slide in more," Shaw said as she was putting her kit away. "I'm getting some ice, I'll be back in a minute unless the bureau arrests me or something."

"Oh, they left already."

"Why didn't you...ugh, hold that thought." Shaw left before she could get distracted more, but she didn't get far. There was a large bucket full of large blocks of ice sitting out in the hall. She stared at it, wondering if Doris being helpful was just part of her particular fae thing or some other game she was playing. It was probably better she hadn't known this whole time or she'd have second guessed all the amazing food.

"Help me with this." Shaw set the bucket on the bed. "But don't rip your stitches." She peeled her shirt and bra off and flopped onto the outside half of the bed on her stomach.

"Shouldn't you have something between your skin and the ice?"

"Which one of us went to medical school? Just put the ice on my back."

Root's fingers trailed over her back once. "Your whole back is going to be bruised tomorrow." She rested her hand lightly on Shaw's lower back and the warmth of it seeped into Shaw's skin and damn if it didn't feel nice right now.

Root's hand vanished and was replaced by a seering cold weight. Shaw sighed in relief. "What's this about the bureau being gone?"

"The fae made a formal complaint to the head of the bureau about Denton Weeks damaging their property. Weeks wasn't fully authorized to be here anyway and mostly the bureau goes out of their way to avoid upsetting the fae so they summoned him back without even asking what the property was."

Of all the things the fae could have complained about it had been Doris's inn. That figured. "He's not going to like that. He'll hate both of us even more for it." A second block of ice settled on her mid-back; the first one was already burning nicely against her skin.

"Undoubtedly."

"Weeks, Greer, this demon, and the fae if I don't keep my word. I sure made a lot of friends on this trip."

"I'm going to kill Weeks and Greer when I get a chance, so the list will be a little shorter." Root put one last block on her back up between her shoulder blades.

"Greer, good riddance to, but killing a big shot in the bureau will bring you all sorts of unwanted trouble."

"If Weeks reports that I'm a warlock then I'll already have plenty of trouble."

"Good point."

Root lay back down next to her. "I should leave soon. It won't be safe for me to stay if the bureau comes looking."

"Where are you going to go?"

"Well, She invited me to see Her world, and it wouldn't hurt to make myself scarce for a few days at least. And then I thought I'd help you fulfill your promise to the fae since you made it on my behalf."

"You don't have to--"

"I'd like to."

"Suit yourself," Shaw said. She wasn't going to question that she liked the idea of getting to work with Root again soon. "What about long-term? I mean, you're stuck with this god for life, right?"

"We're figuring out the long-term still." Root yawned. "Neither of us expected this to be over so fast or for Her to be free. And we have you to thank for that."

The affection shining in Root's eyes was almost palpable. Shaw looked away. "Get some sleep."

"Are you going to stay here?"

"I'm going to get up in a few minutes and see how Reese is managing."

Root chewed her lip. "I might not be here when you get back."

"You know where to find me."

Root smiled. "I do." Her eyes drifted shut. Shaw watched her sleep until the ice started melting in earnest. She got up and pulled on a fresh shirt and, after a moment's thought, left out a spare shirt for Root since she'd ruined another one and the rest of her clothes had gotten burned up in the fire.

She looked back at Root one last time before she shut the door and went to find Reese.

Sergeant Fusco was waiting for her in the common room when she got down, and there was no sign of Doris.

"I'm supposed to make sure you go see the Chief now," Fusco said, rising from his chair. "Don't try anything dumb because I've had a long day already cleaning up the mess you made."

"Sounds terrible," Shaw said dryly. "And it's your lucky day because I was on my way to see your boss anyway." Had anyone seriously thought Fusco would stand a chance against her if she chose not to cooperate? She was insulted.

Lieutenant Silva met them outside and fell into step on the other side of Shaw without a word.

"Am I under arrest for something?" Shaw asked. Fusco's bad day would get a lot worse if she was.

"Not yet," Dani said, "but we were told to make sure you didn't leave town."

"Next time I'll let the bad guys trash your town if this is the thanks I get."

"Who were--" Dani stopped herself. "Chief said you aren't supposed to talk to anyone but her about the incident, including us."

"Fine by me."

It looked like most of the officers hadn't made it back from the supposed crime scene yet as the police building was mostly empty. Carter and Reese were both in Carter's office with the door shut. Carter motioned for her to enter as she approached.

"How's your friend doing?" Carter asked. "I got a report from Lieutenant Silva that you refused to take her to the local doctor."

"She doesn't like strangers much." Shaw plopped into a rickety wooden chair and winced. Her whole butt felt like one huge bruise. She exchanged a look with Reese as she tried to get comfortable. His habitually expressionless face had been useful in their previous jobs, but right now it was useless to her. He didn't seem upset, but she'd seen him not look upset while on the verge of bleeding to death. "And she'll be okay."

"When do you think she'll be okay enough to give me a statement?" Carter asked.

Shaw widened her eyes in feigned surprise. "She was just an innocent bystander who got caught in the fight. I doubt there's much she could tell you."

Carter didn't look remotely amused. "Uh-huh, so the fact your buddies from the bureau seemed to be after her is, what, a case of mistaken identity?"

"Could be."

Shaw thought she could see Carter's eye twitching. She fiddled with the loose chair arm and tried to look unconcerned.

"I hired you two to find out what was killing livestock in my town, so the fact you're here at all and got involved in something a lot larger is partly on me. I'm willing to work with you here, but that's not going to happen if you keep lying to me."

This was where it got tricky, because Shaw had no clue what Reese had told Carter. She could at least make a decent guess though.

"Well, the good news is that the dismembered arm you found out in that field is all that's left of the thing that killed your farmer and the fae. So she won't be troubling you anymore."

Carter leaned back in her chair and fixed her with a discerning stare that probably would have intimidated someone who wasn't Shaw. "And who, exactly, was she?"

"Never caught her name, but she was a warlock that worked for a man named John Greer who owns a company called Decima. We think they were trying to sell the bureau on a scheme to contain warlocks. Your town was a good place for a demonstration since it's in the middle of nowhere." If they gave Carter just enough of the truth, maybe it would satisfy her.

"Where does killing some farm animals fit into this?"

"I can't tell you for sure, but I can give you my best guess," Shaw offered.

"Go ahead."

"Greer needed to sell his whole system to the bureau, but to do that he needed a warlock to demonstrate on. If an actual warlock showed up and something like Fairfield happened again, the military would get involved and he wouldn't have a chance to take his turn in the spotlight, but he already had a warlock working for him and he sent her here to start causing problems. Small at first, enough that you might call in help, but not enough to pull the attention of the bureau." The bureau wouldn't show up for some livestock killings, or even for the death of a random farmer. Once Grumpy had died, though….

"I think the plan was to have the contractors you called in killed or maybe just have them report to the bureau. Either way it's a large enough incident to interest them, but not large enough that Greer would have to worry about tanks and jets showing up. If things had gone as he'd planned he would have put on a little show and had his pet warlock fake being captured." That was more of a lie, but it kept Root's name out of it at least.

"And you three took down Greer's warlock? Without any backup?" Carter asked doubtfully. "I thought they were supposed to be tough."

"We got a local ice elemental to help us out." Shaw didn't think Reese would have outed Root, and she had absolutely no intention of doing so herself. She wasn't going to rely on Carter's gratitude to keep Root out of trouble.

"An ice elemental." Carter sighed. "If I hadn't looked over the scene myself, I'd think you were crazy or full of bullshit, but something big sure as hell happened." She considered both of them for a long moment. "You story matches up with your friend's here more or less: local ice elemental saves the day, and the real bad guy, this John Greer person, vanishes without a trace."

Shaw nodded. It was probably a very good thing that elementals were so deeply disinterested in humans that no one would ever be able to verify that.

"You probably want to put in your report that it was a rogue fuser, though," Reese said. "You put warlock on there and a lot more federal types than just Denton Weeks will show up. You'll have armed soldiers crawling all over here for months."

"Hmmm." Carter still didn't look convinced. "It's a nice story, all neatly tied up with an elemental we'll never be able to find and who wouldn't answer us if we did. The biggest hole in it still is why the bureau was after your friend...Root was her name? No one seems to know her real name."

There wasn't a lie that Shaw could think of that stood a chance of working, so she went with the next best thing. "I promise you that Root did not kill or harm anyone in your town, and put herself at considerable risk to help deal with the warlock." An idea occurred to her. "Sometimes there's people who are, uh, tied into the world of unnaturals but are just trying to live normal lives away from it all, you know. And maybe they don't cause trouble, but if anyone knew about them they'd always be the first to be suspected. I'm sure you can imagine a situation like that and see why it would be harmful to call attention to such a person."

It was a gamble, but Root had said that if anyone knew about Doris it was going to be Carter. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the slight crease between Reese's brows that said he was well and truly lost.

Carter didn't even blink, but considered them both in silence. Finally she nodded. "I'm going to need both of you to give official statements tomorrow, so maybe take the evening to make sure your stories are straight. John here told me that Root was your college girlfriend who followed you here because she's, in his words, a bit of a stalker."

The loose chair arm broke off with a snap in Shaw's hand.

"We'll make sure to tie up all the loose ends," Reese said quickly before Shaw had a chance to respond or commit a homicide. "The important thing here is that the murderer is gone and your town will be safe now."

Carter pursed her lips and then took a deep breath. "One more thing before you go. I'd been offered a promotion before this all started and I'd put off making a decision until the town was safe again. It'd be a transfer back to Manhattan to the local unnaturals task force there."

"Seems like you've got a pretty sweet gig here already," Shaw said. "Why would you want the extra headaches from working in the city?"

"That's partly what I wanted to ask you two about. You both worked for the bureau so you must have some idea how the state level unnatural forces are run. I want a position where I can have more of an impact, but I like knowing what I'm going to walk into."

"The bureau and state unnaturals forces don't like each other any more than any federal and state agencies do," Reese said. "The one in the city is a mess--the usual corruption and abuse of power issues. I wouldn't go anywhere near it voluntarily."

"Also the pay sucks from what I hear," Shaw added.

"I see. Thank you." Carter rose and opened the door to her office. "Nine am sharp tomorrow, both of you be here to make your statements. I should be around, but if I'm not then maybe I'll see you both in the city."

Shaw put the broken chair arm down on her chair before she left.

Outside, it had gotten dark. It was hard to believe that this day had started out with Greer trying to capture Root at the inn and now, only hours later, the other warlock was dead, the bureau had been dealt with, and they were both going to be on their way out of here soon.

"What was all that with unnaturals living normal lives thing you sold Carter on?" Reese asked as they trudged through the muddy snow.

"Oh, the innkeeper, Doris, is fae and Carter knows. I thought maybe she'd sympathize with someone in a similar situation."

"Oh, you were talking about Doris. That makes sense."

"Wait, you _knew_? Am I the only one in the whole town who didn't know? How the hell did you know?" Shaw was tempted to go back and get the chair arm and beat him with it.

"I thought you might react poorly," Reese said with an apologetic smile. "You don't have a great record with the fae and all."

"Fuck you. And my college girlfriend? What the fuck sort of story is that? She was here before we were!"

"It wasn't my best story ever," he admitted. "But everything turned out okay in the end." He glanced over at her. "How's Root doing?"

"She'll be okay, though she's going to run off to another dimension soon so good luck to Carter trying to get a statement from her."

"And what about you?"

"Sore. My back is going to feel like hell tomorrow." She stretched so she could feel the pull of the bruises on her skin. "But at least I can go be sore in my own bed after tomorrow. Maybe we can get a ride out of here in the afternoon."

"You'll have to keep your word to the fae, you know."

"Trust me, I know. And to do that I need to get back to the city." The crafter she'd bought the ring off of had still been in Brooklyn last time she'd checked.

The common room of the inn was still empty when they got back, and Shaw wondered if Doris planned to avoid them for the rest of their stay. There were two bowls of stew left out on the bar top though, both still steaming hot.

"Does she not know Root is here?" Reese asked as he picked up his bowl.

"Yeah, maybe," Shaw lied. She was pretty sure she knew why there hadn't been a third bowl.

Her room was empty when she opened the door, Root and her leather jacket both gone. She'd taken the shirt Shaw had left for her but had left her fucking dildo in the bathroom like some weird kinky memento. Shaw checked, but there wasn't a note or anything. Not that she'd wanted one. Well, if Root ripped her stitches while she was off prancing around magical god land, that wasn't Shaw's problem.

She sat down to eat her dinner alone, and watched out the window for what was hopefully the last time as snow fell on the quiet town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sure this chapter was called parting ways, but there's still one chapter left so there is time for ways to be un-parted a possibly excessive number of times. that'll be posting saturday.
> 
> doris was kind of the final secret and the hints about her were small and insignificant enough that there probably wasn't enough to pick up on but hopefully enough to spot on a reread.


	12. Reconnecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i usually mark off all the sex stuff because i know at least a few people who like being able to skip it, but boy was that hard in this chapter. so uh there's kind of some less explicit stuff not marked off starting right at the get go and then there's more explicit stuff marked off later that makes up, hmm, roughly 50% of the chapter oops.

A subway train rattled by on the raised tracks outside Shaw's apartment, but, even though she was facing the window, she barely noticed. The fact that Root--naked except for a ridiculous cuff earring--was perched on the edge of Shaw's only table with her legs wrapped firmly around Shaw and her head thrown back as Shaw's hips rocked into her was slightly distracting.

Also distracting was the way Root's loud moan echoed through Shaw's sparsely-furnished loft when she came and how her chest heaved when she collapsed back onto the table. Shaw leaned over her, rolling her hips slowly until Root groaned and pushed her away. She had to carefully step around the shattered bowl on the floor (her only bowl!) to chuck the strap-on at the bed. Root looked insufferably smug and satisfied when Shaw came back to the table.

"Hey, sweetie. Long time, no see."

"We just spent over an hour fucking, what're you talking about?"

Root sat up and hooked her ankle around Shaw's leg to pull her closer. "True, but we never said hello."

Shaw let herself be pulled in and didn't stop Root from kissing her neck. "And whose fault was that?"

Root had broken in so stealthily that Shaw hadn't woken up until Root had pulled her covers down and started petting her abs like a huge perv. Shaw had gotten a knife at Root's throat before she'd recognized her and that had turned both of them on enough that small talk had been off the table and Root had been _on_ the table. Eventually. She'd gone down on Shaw twice before Shaw had bent her over the table and fucked her while groping her tattoo, but that sadly had kept her from also groping Root's breasts and Root from gnawing at her neck so she'd flipped her around and hoisted her on the table for the last round. And it wasn't even nine am yet.

"You left your door unlocked."

"No. No, I didn't."

"Well, you left your key in a place where it was easy to borrow it and have a copy made and then didn't move for two years after that. That's almost the same thing." Root licked a line up Shaw's sweaty neck.

"And the two extra deadbolts on the door?"

"Mmm, okay, full confession. I actually had Her open a portal into your room so I could come back right here."

Shaw curled her hands around Root's hips. "Did you really have my key copied?"

Root looked at her through her eyelashes, face a picture of innocence. "Yes, and it was very wrong of me, and I'll have to think of some way to make it up to you." She bit her lip and grinned.

Shaw rolled her eyes and lifted Root up off the table, making her clutch at Shaw to try and keep her balance. Shaw dumped her on the bed. "Stay." She headed to the kitchen corner of her loft. "You want something to drink?"

"Just water."

It was definitely too early for whiskey, but it had already been a weird day so Shaw shrugged and poured herself some anyway. She handed Root a glass of ice water, sat down on the bed, and slid back far enough that she could see Root's back.

"How was your visit to magical god land?" she asked as she ran her finger along the healing pink scar on Root's back.

Root shivered at her touch. "Oh, it was definitely interesting. Quite different."

"Was the flow of time different, too, because there's no way this is only a week's worth of healing." Her other injuries also looked mostly healed. The needle marks wouldn't have been noticeable if she hadn't been looking for them. Meanwhile she was still nursing some healing bruises on her back.

"Time is complex, you know. It bends back on itself and isn't nearly as linear as most people think. Our experiences of it are wholly subjective and influenced by the night and day cycle of our world."

"Uh-huh, sure. So how many days would you say that was, subjectively?"

"Maybe three or four weeks."

"This still healed really fast then." Someone else must have taken her stitches out, which annoyed Shaw for no good reason.

"Oh, yes, well I also might heal a little faster now. Perks of the job."

Shaw took her hand away, satisfied with how the wound had healed. A scar had been unavoidable, but it wouldn't be nearly as bad as it could have been. "At least she's taking good care of you."

"Oh, She takes _very_ good care of me."

"I bet." Shaw drained the rest of her whiskey and set the glass on the floor. "Did you...was Grim there, too?" She tried to sound casual, like she hadn't been thinking about summoning him again all week.

"He was and he's fine. He does look a little different on that side, though. Larger, for one thing, and slightly more amorphous."

"How much larger?" Shaw asked remembering how Grim had grown in the fight at the inn.

"Hmm, size there doesn't work the way it does here, but definitely too large for your apartment. Or your whole building for that matter."

Shaw had a fleeting vision of herself perched on Grim's shoulders while he stomped on the bureau's headquarters. Something to put on her bucket list for a rainy day.

"And what's with this?" She poked at Root's new ear cuff. It was an impressive piece that looked like it was made of blackened silver and faintly gave the impression that there were branches and leaves carved into it.

Root flinched away. "Just something She gave me to help me out with some things."

Shaw let her hand drop. "With your hearing."

Root turned to look at her with a slight frown. "Yes. How did you know about that? I thought we were doing a good job covering for it."

"That time I slept over your hair got swept back when you were asleep."

A small grin curled on Root's face. "You were watching me sleep."

"You invaded my space."

"I'm not responsible for what happens while I'm asleep." Root tilted her head to one side. "Is that why you punched Denton Weeks?"

Root's god must have told her about that. "There were so many reasons to punch him. That was just one of them."

Shaw saw it coming way ahead of time, so she was ready when Root tried to pounce on her, and she flipped them over to pin her. Root pushed back with a surprising amount of strength that suggested she'd either gone on an intense workout regime or was cheating and using her warlock powers somehow. Shaw grinned and pushed right back until she had both of Root's wrists pinned. That's what Root got for trying to cheat.

Root gave up and settled back onto the mattress under her. "I love winning."

"In what way did you win that?"

Root smirked.

Shaw shook her head and loosened her grip a tiny amount. She didn't want to bust Root's wrists and make it hard for her to use her fingers. "What are you doing now?"

"Seducing you, obviously."

Shaw rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean this second. Also, it's not working."

Root pouted. "Well, I did say I was coming back to help you find that artifact for the fae. Unless you found it already?"

"Your god can't tell you that?"

"Indulge me."

Shaw released her wrists and sat back. "The guy who had it sold it when he got out of the business and the contact he gave me was a dead end. I've got a few leads though."

"That sounds like something I can help with...if you want me to." There was maybe the tiniest hint of uncertainty in Root's eyes.

"I definitely wouldn't turn down some help right now. Who knows how long before the fae get antsy and do something terrible to me." She ran a finger along Root's hip bone eyeing that scar that hadn't healed quite right. "What about after that? Long-term."

"Ah, that." Root intercepted her hand and dragged it down lower. "We'll be keeping an eye out for any sign of this shadow demon causing trouble again, of course, but what She really wants to do is destroy the rest of the original artifacts and release all the beings trapped in them."

Shaw pulled away from Root and instead rested her hand on Root's thigh and ignored the pointed way she inched her legs apart. She was attempting to have a real conversation here about important things--a very rare occurrence for her--and she wasn't going to get distracted. "The glove I had broke, though. Unless you think you can fix it?"

"Unfortunately, no, but there's still the original artifact it was made from somewhere out there. I never had any luck hunting it down after it went missing, but maybe with Her help…."

"I'll help, too," Shaw said quickly. There was something disturbingly tantalizing about the prospect of finding another artifact with the power of the builders that she probably should have been worried about, but she had decided not to think about that yet.

Root smiled. "I'd like that." She wiggled her hips, trying to push down into Shaw's hand. "But first I'd like something else."

Shaw gave up on the real conversation thing and went to hunt down the strap-on again. Vague non-committal plans for the future had been made, and that was good enough for her.

When she got back, Root was leaning on her elbows on the window sill above the bed, looking out at the streets below.

"It's snowing again. There wasn't any weather in Her world, or at least I don't think there was. Nothing I would recognize as weather."

Shaw climbed onto the bed and moved up behind her. "Did you like it there? How did shit like oxygen even work?" She wrapped a hand around Root's hip and brushed just below the bottom of her tattoo with her thumb.

"It didn't, but there's ways around that." Root pressed back into her and made a small sound in the back of her throat when the strap-on brushed against her ass.

"There's ways around breathing?" Shaw asked. "Do you want to stay like this or are you moving?"

"There's ways for Her to let someone think they're breathing normally while the actual process happens a different way." She shifted her weight and spread her legs a little wider. "Here is good."

* * *

* * *

Shaw couldn't remember her being as into having Shaw take her from behind before (Root had always been very into leering at her whenever possible, even mid-sex), but the tattoo probably explained that. "Are you going to go back at some point?" Her fingers teased along the inside of Root's thigh and she wrapped her other arm around her to cup one of her breasts. She'd missed the feeling of Root's body in a way she'd never physically missed a specific person before. Root was familiar, a literal touchstone to all those moments from their time together and all the good and bad things they entailed.

"At some point." Root glanced back over her shoulder. "Mind if She joins in?"

"Like before?" Her fingers found Root wet and ready. Had her god been helping out already? She pressed herself up against Root's back and brushed Root's hair to the side so she could suck a mark on the side of her neck. Root's god might have left a permanent mark on her, but Shaw liked adding her own.

"Yes, but like at the very end when you touched my tattoo while She was still taking me."

Shaw remembered the pleasant buzzing sensation that had travelled up her arm. "Could be fun. Why not?" She slipped her fingers inside Root, and grunted in approval at the way Root's hips tilted to take her in deeper. Yeah, she'd missed this.

The tingling started so faintly this time that she barely noticed it until it was already vibrating through her body where she was pressed against Root. The vibration of it made her breath catch as the feeling echoed through her, straight from her breasts down to between her legs. Yeah, this definitely had potential.

"Tell me what it's like when it's just the two of you. Does she talk to you?" The way Root had described those encounters had been a definite turn on for Shaw both previous times and she was angling for more.

"Sometimes." Root pressed her forehead against the glass window in front of her and rolled her hips into Shaw's movements. "Sometimes when I'm touching myself She tells me where and when to touch to match up with what She's doing. She tells me when to come to maximize the experience."

"You're into that?" Shaw moved back, regretful when the pleasant vibrations cut off, but eager to get to the next part.

"That depends on who it is calling the shots."

While there were a whole list of reasons that Shaw enjoyed fucking Root from behind like this, the one big downside was not being able to watch Root's face as she pushed into her with the strap-on. She had to settle for savoring the guttural moan and the way Root's hand smacked hard against the glass of the window pane. She stilled once she was all the way in and wondered at the feeling of physical connection this brought her now. There was a level of trust that Root was handing her that felt almost intimate in itself.

She flattened a hand across Root's pelvis, pressing down, and rolled her hips once.

"Fuck," Root breathed against the window.

"Tell me what she's doing," Shaw requested. Her hand moved to Root's back and teased down the raised lines of her tattoo.

"She's…." Root's fingers curled against the glass and her breath came out in a whine.

"Tell me." It was no fair not knowing.

"I can feel both of you inside me. You're both touching me in all the same places and it's... _fuck_." Root's nails scratched ineffectively at the window.

Shaw smirked. "Yeah, I bet it is." Vibrations travelled up her arm from where her hand touched Root's tattoo, harsher than before, making her whole body throb. Her hips bucked forwards into Root against her will and fuck it was like a closed circuit between the three of them, an endless loop. "Hey, Root," she said, carefully controlling her own voice.

"Hmm?" Root seemed to be having trouble with words.

She leaned forwards to talk right in her ear. "You don't get to come until I say so."

Root laughed but it got cut off in a moan when Shaw scratched her nails down her tattoo.

"Or...or what?" she asked, voice strained.

"Or it means I win and you lose." That should appeal to the egotistical competitive streak in her.

"You think...that's going to work on me?"

Shaw almost chuckled because yeah, she was pretty sure it would.

"And keep telling me what she's doing or I stop."

The intensity of the tingling running through her body seemed to crest and fall in time to the movement of her hips and Shaw wasn't sure if she was setting the pace or matching it and man did she not even care because all of it felt so damn perfect. "Keep talking," she reminded Root.

"She's...it doesn't feel the same as...as…" Words were still problematic for Root apparently.

"As getting fucked?" Shaw suggested.

Root nodded her head against the glass. "I can feel you so deep inside me and it's like She amplifies every point of contact, makes it all feel...it feels _more_." Root drew in a shaky breath.

Shaw circled her arm around Root to touch her clit. "How about here?" she asked in a rough voice in Root's ear. "Can you feel both of us here as well?"

From the way Root almost put her fist through the window, Shaw assumed she could.

"Easy. If you bust the window we're stopping."

Root's back heaved as she took a few deep, controlled breaths. But under control Root was no fun so Shaw licked a wet line across the top of her tattoo and then bit down at the back of her neck.

Root's entire body trembled and she collapsed her weight onto her arms on the sill. "I can't...Sameen, oh god."

Did that count as calling out both their names?

"Not yet."

Root bit down on her own arm with a choked cry, but she didn't come. Shaw brushed the sweaty hair back from Root's neck and pressed a kiss there. She slowed the movements of her hips, putting more force into each thrust. "Imagine what it would be like if she and I could talk during this" she murmured into Root's good ear. "You wouldn't stand a chance."

Root's breath came out in a high-pitched whine against her own arm.

"Like I could tell her when I was about to do something like--" Her hand cupped Root's breast and pinched her nipple sharply. "--this."

She had no way to be sure that Root's god had caught on in time to do something to complement her touch, but the almost-sob it tore from Root suggested that she had.

"Please," Root moaned. "Sameen..."

Shaw took pity on her, mostly because she was so close herself between the base of the toy pressing against her and the thrumming sensation through her whole body and the feeling of Root sweaty and desperate against her.

"Yeah, you can come now, Root."

Root came almost instantly, her hips working their way backwards into Shaw and a choked moan echoing against the glass. Her whole body melted limply after, almost sliding off the sill as she clumsily tried to keep her balance.

"Fuck," Shaw muttered, and she slowed down just enough to pivot them to the side and push Root down onto the mattress. She was so damned close that it only took a few more desperate thrusts for her to fall apart in what had to be one of the best fucking orgasms she'd ever had. It went on for what felt like forever, cresting again as the vibrations roared through her, until she collapsed on Root's back, both of them breathing raggedly in a sweaty heap.

"That was certainly something," Shaw said into Root's shoulder.

Root laughed. "I'm not sure I can still walk after that."

Shaw propped her chin up on Root's shoulder blade. "How'd that work out for you? Both of us at once and all the other stuff." She rolled her hips ever so slightly--the strap-on still buried deep inside Root--and enjoyed the way it made Root shiver under her.

"I think we can definitely call that a success." Root swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath. She reached a hand back to grip Shaw's hip and encourage her to rock into her.

"How are you still not done?" Shaw asked, impressed.

"She says I can take one more."

"I guess you can't argue with a god." In Shaw's experience she could argue with anyone, but at the moment she thought they were on the same page.

"It's no fair getting teamed up on, you know," Root murmured.

"So you weren't into that part?" Shaw propped herself up on one forearm so she could slide easier against Root's sweaty skin. She didn't think she was going to come again, but from the sound of Root's breathing she was headed in that direction.

"Oh, no, I definitely was. It just wasn't fair."

Shaw smirked and huffed out a breath of warm air right between Root's shoulder blades. She'd enjoyed all the wild, frantic sex they'd started with, and the kinky supernatural threesome thing, but there was something kind of nice about this, too. Root was soft and pliant beneath her, that sharpness she usually had to her tucked away. She'd always had walls up around her--shifting and changing to only show pieces of herself at a time, always on guard--but now her face was relaxed, eyes shut and cheeks flushed pink, her breath coming out in quiet gasps, and somehow it felt like her guard was completely down now.

Shaw couldn't help but wonder at the sheer unlikeliness that of all the people in the world, the one who had this level of trust in her was someone who knew her far better than most. It was illogical and strangely comforting.

She kept her movements slow and steady, content to watch the expressions on Root's face and feel Root breathing hard under her. She gripped Root's hip with her free hand so she could thrust into her with more force. This was slow and quieter than their usual sex, but definitely not gentle--she wasn't sure either of them would have wanted it gentle.

"Is she still participating?" Shaw asked. She hadn't felt anything from where she was pressed against Root's tattoo, but that didn't mean Root wasn't still getting some secret god action.

"In a way." Root could barely get the words out so Shaw slowed to nearly a halt to let her. "She can see me all the time, and the area around me--almost like a view from the sky." Her fingers tugged at Shaw's hips, not pleased with the interruption. "And She can let me see what She sees."

"So you can watch us fuck while we're fucking?" She was a little jealous that she couldn't do that. Maybe she should buy a mirror.

Root nodded and pulled at Shaw's hip again. "Right now I can see us not fucking when we should be."

Shaw bit back a laugh and started moving again, the same slow, forceful thrusts as before. What was Root seeing right now behind her closed eyes? Could she focus in on specific things or only see a large area? Did she control that or did her god? She definitely wanted more details later on.

Root's fingers dug into Shaw's hip as she came again with a quiet moan. Shaw amused herself with tracing the lines on Root's tattoo as she recovered, her touch wrenching small aftershocks from her. When Root finally stilled and softened into the bed she took her hand away and looked down at her with a feeling of intense satisfaction.

* * *

* * *

Eventually, Root squirmed under her. "This is nice, but…."

"Right, yeah." Shaw summoned the energy to lift herself up and pull out of Root. The strap-on harness got tossed to the floor and Shaw settled back down on top of Root. This wasn't cuddling; this was recovery. "I need a steak after that."

"It's nine in the morning, sweetie." Root yawned. "Though it doesn't feel like it. I think I'm jet-lagged."

"What time zone is in god land?"

"There aren't night and day cycles. It's very disorienting." Root pulled a pillow under her head. "I might need a nap before I can leave."

"You really came right here from your trip to get laid?"

"It seemed like the thing to do. Also my house burned down."

Shaw frowned. "Where did you stay before that?"

"Nowhere in particular. The house was my first real place. Maybe I'm not cut out for home ownership."

Shaw snorted. "Next time don't get a death trap maybe." She rolled over to the side, pulling Root with her so she was curled up around Root's back still. The apartment was cold, that was all. "You could crash here until you sort that out." She wasn't crazy about sharing, but if it was temporary and meant plenty more sex like the marathon they'd just had then she could cope.

"That would be nice. Convenient, too, if I'm going to be helping you out."

"True." Shaw thought about rolling away now, but between the mind-blowing sex and the whiskey earlier she was tired and warm and comfortable. "Doesn't having me against your tattoo like this make it harder to sleep?"

Root shook her head. "Right now it doesn't feel like a sex thing."

"So what does it feel like?"

"Warm. Quiet. Safe." She sounded half-asleep.

"Safe," Shaw repeated thoughtfully. It kind of did feel that way with Root here, like maybe things were going to be okay. And with that thought and her arm curled loosely around Root, she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading and i really hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> i started writing a one-shot prequel about fairfield that's about hmmm halfway done maybe? it'll just be one chapter so i should finish it in the near future. i also am about 3 chapters into a sequel but i have no clue how long that one's going to be yet so i have no time estimate on when it will be done. i added this to a series so you can subscribe to the series if you want to get notified when i post new stuff.


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